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Spacing Behavior and Movements of the American Black Bear (Ursus

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Spacing Behavior and Movements of the American Black Bear (Ursus INTRASPECIFIC BLACK BEAR SPATIAL PATTERNS AND INTERACTIONS AT A SMALL SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALE by Desiree A. Early A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of the Degree Master of Science In Natural Resources: Wildlife February, 2010 ABSTRACT INTRASPECIFIC BLACK BEAR SPATIAL PATTERNS AND INTERACTIONS AT A SMALL SPATIO-TEMPORAL SCALE Desiree A. Early Understanding intraspecific spatial patterns and interactions of American black bears (Ursus americanus) can improve the understanding of social behavior and management of the species. Few studies have examined spatial patterns of American black bears at small spatial and temporal scales. Sixteen black bears (8 females and 8 males) were radio-collared between 27 May and 12 August 2008 in a 175 km2 study area in Humboldt County, California. I measured home range size, overlap, and overlap frequency to describe static spatial patterns (without a temporal component). I measured the spatial and temporal interactions of groups of bears by examining distances between bears and of pairs of bears by examining the use of home range overlapping areas. The mean 95% fixed-kernel home-range estimate was larger for males than for females. Females overlapped other bears with a greater percentage of their overall home range than males. Male home ranges overlapped other bears with a greater frequency than females. According to the spatial and temporal interaction analysis based on distances between bears, bears were not moving in response to neighboring bears. Spatial and temporal interactions occurred for 24% of the pairs of bears utilizing home range overlapping areas, with 18% exhibiting a significant spatial interaction and 6% exhibiting a significant temporal interaction. Although spatial and temporal interactions occurred between eight pairs of bears, spatial and temporal interactions were not detected for 26 pairs of bears in the study area. The lack of significant spatial and temporal interactions iii may be a result of high black bear densities. Alternatively, bears within the study area may be interacting at a much finer scale (i.e., within food patches) than this study was able to detect. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my advisor Dr. Richard Golightly for his guidance and support throughout the process. I also thank my committee members Dr. Richard Brown and Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther for their thoughtful comments and criticisms during the design and review of this project. This project would not have been possible without the telemetry and field equipment I borrowed from my advisor, Dr. Matt Johnson, and Green Diamond Resource Company. I especially thank Lowell Diller, Keith Hamm, and Pat Zimmerman for helping with the design and implementation of the black bear project and for providing the black bears. I thank Dr. Howard Stauffer, Dr. Mark Rizzardi, and Tom Gorman for assistance and advice with data analyses. I am also grateful to the many volunteers who spent countless hours standing on hills in the rain listening to beeps. Those people include: Jacob Bagnell, Ryan Bourque, Kristin Brzeski, Tiffany Concannon, Noelani Davis, Dan Fidler, Lindsy Greene, Jillian Jackson, Ryan Kalinowski, Brendan Lynch, Angela Moran, Aicha Ougzin, Shad Scalvini, Carmen Vanbianchi, and Pat Zimmerman. I am also grateful for my only other sources of funding provided by Richard Callas and the California Department of Fish and Game and the Marin Rod and Gun Club Scholarship. I dedicate this thesis to my parents, Troy and Mona Early, for their understanding, support, and encouragement. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... x INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................... 5 MATERIALS AND METHODS ........................................................................................ 7 Capture and Handling ............................................................................................. 7 Home Range Analysis............................................................................................. 9 Spatial and Temporal Interaction Analysis ........................................................... 11 Bear-to-bear distances ............................................................................... 11 Home-range overlap areas ........................................................................ 12 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................... 17 Home Range Analysis........................................................................................... 17 California, 2008. Spatial and Temporal Interactions ........................................... 21 Spatial and Temporal Interactions ........................................................................ 18 vi Bear-to-bear distances ............................................................................... 18 Home-range overlap areas ........................................................................ 23 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................... 25 LITERATURE CITED ..................................................................................................... 34 APPENDICIES ................................................................................................................. 42 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Description of notation used in text for calculating the spatial and temporal interactions between black bears within home range overlapping areas in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2008. ....................................... 13 2 Percent overlap and frequency statistics for 7 female and 3 male black bears in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 27 May- 12 August 2008. ........................................................................................................................ 20 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Location of the Little River study area, surrounding cities, and Green Diamond Resource Company (Green Diamond) ownership for the study of black bear spatial patterns in Humboldt County, California, 2008. .......................... 6 2 Fixed-kernel home-range estimates of 7 female and 3 male black bears in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2008. Boxes represent ±1 SE, horizontal lines within the boxes represent the mean, and the vertical lines represent the range. ......................................................................................... 19 3 Spatial distribution representing maximum home-range overlap of 70% for female 3 with female 20 in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2008. ...................................................................................................... 21 4 Observed and expected distances between pairs of bears (n=70 pairs of bears) pooled by sex for 16 black bears (8 females and 8 males) in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2008. ................................................. 22 5 Significant spatial and temporal interactions of 8 pairs of black bears consisting of 6 females and 2 males within the shared home range overlap areas in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 27 May- 12 August 2008. Arrows indicate type and direction of interactions. .......................... 24 ix LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page A. Sex, weight, and age for collared bears (n=16) in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2007-2008. ................................................................... 42 B. Bootstrap analysis for 8 female and 8 male black bears in the Little River study area in northwestern California, 2008. Curved line represents minimum number of telemetry locations to obtain an accurate home range size. .......................................................................................................................... 43 x INTRODUCTION Knowledge of intraspecific spatial patterns (here after spatial patterns) and interactions of American black bears (Ursus americanus) is essential for the successful management of the species. Information regarding the intraspecific spatial and temporal relationships is necessary to understand social behavior among individuals (Chamberlain and Leopold 2000). Spatial and temporal interactions among American black bears are influenced by food abundance (Powell 1987, Elowe and Dodge 1989, Schooley et al. 1994, Rudis and Tansey 1995, Samson and Huot 2001), topography (Amstrup and Beecham 1976, Reynolds and Beecham 1980), kinship (Garshelis and Pelton 1981, Clevenger and Pelton 1987, Rogers 1987, Schwartz and Franzmann 1992, Moyer et
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