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Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest

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Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2002 Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest Steven T. Dobey University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Animal Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Dobey, Steven T., "Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2002. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4533 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Steven T. Dobey entitled "Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Michael R. Pelton, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Gary McCracken, Lisa Muller, Joseph Clark Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Steven T. Dobey entitled "Abundance and Density of Florida Black Bears in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Osceola National Forest". I have examined the finalpaper copy of this thesis for form, content, and quality and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Master of Science, with a major in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Michael R. Pelton, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Accepted forthe Council: Vice Provost and Dean of Studies ABUNDANCE AND DENSITY OF FLORIDA BLACK BEARS IN THE OKEFENOKEE NATIONAL WILDLIFEREFUGE AND OSCEOLA NATIONAL FOREST A Thesis Presentedfor the Master of Science Degree The Universityof Tennessee, Knoxville Steven Thomas Dobey May 2002 U.T. ARCHIVES �is ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2�2-, ,J)i,8 I amgrateful to Dr. Michael Pelton, my major advisor, forgiving me the opportunity to pursue a graduate degreeunder his direction. My fieldseasons in the OkefenokeeSwamp provided me withsome of the most difficult, enduring, and most enjoyable experiences of my life. I also extend my sincere thanksto Dr. Joseph Clarkfor stepping in as fny second advisor followingDr. Pelton's semi-retirement. Your enthusiasm andwillingness to help has provided with somethifl:gthat I could never have learnedin a classroom. I greatlyappreciate all of the assistance and advice provided by themembers of my graduate committee. They included Dr. Michael Pelton, Dr. Joseph Clark, Dr. Lisa Muller, andDr. GaryMcCracken. Their input andsuggestions greatly improved the qualityof my thesis. I also thankDr. Frankvan Manen foralways talcing time to answer my questions andproviding invaluable computer assistance. The staffat OkefenokeeNational WildlifeRefuge provided researchpersonnel withall of theresources that we could have ever needed throughoutthe course of this 5- yearstudy. This research wouldnot have been possible without your generosity. I also would like to thankthe Georgia Departmentof Natural Resources for all of the time and assistance thatwas so eagerly donated on their behalf. I owe a special acknowledgementto thestaff of Osceola National Forest, JeffersonSmurfit and Container Corporation, Gillman Paper Company, Champion InternationalCorporation, Rayonier, and Superior Pine forallowing me to conduct researchon their lands. I amgrateful to the members of the Jamestown, Okefenokee ii Sportsman,Big Swamp,Low Road, BearBay, andBanker's Trust hunting clubs for their cooperation. I also thankthe employees of Stephen Foster State Parkfor their hospitality and theinvitation forThanksgiving dinner when I couldn't go home. I extend a special thanksto Refugeemployee's Stacey Williamsand Stiner Jones fornever being too busy to come by the house andsee how things were going. I express much appreciation to Dr. Tim King and ShannonJulian for providing invaluable assistancewith hair preparations,DNA extractions, andanalysis of genetic data. Althoughyour patience andwillingness to teach made my 2-week visits to the lab knowledgeable,your hospitality made them most enjoyable. I greatlyappreciate the help ofmy fieldtechnicians Jeremy Dixon andAmanda Jackson for theirassistance with data collection. Both of you worked hard under extremely difficultconditions, andfor that I amvery grateful. I amespecially indebted to Rich Beausoleil forintroducing me to bearresearch andgraduate school at _UT. I won't forgetthe lunch breaksspent in the Tiger Truck Stop andall themoney we lost. I never suspected thattrapping bearsin Louisianafor $3 50 a monthwould lead to this. Thanks forall of your help along the way. To all of my fellow graduatestudents I would like to say thank you formaking my education at UT more rewardingthan I could've ever imagined. These include JenniferMurrow, Donny Martorello, Rich Beausoleil, Jay Clark,Thomas Eason, Daron Barnes,David Brandenburg,Mark Boersen, BrandonWear, Meghan Carr, Andy Edwards,Jun Yoshizaki,Jason Kindall, Dave andRebecca Telesco, Laura Thompson, iii DanielMoss, andCarrie Schumacher. Thank you all for your support, advice, and friendship. I would like to especially thankJennifer Murrow for her unwavering friendship andher ability to always say the rightthing when I needed it the most. Throughthe good times andthe not-so-good times, you always had a shoulder forme to leanon. Thank you foreverything, I amproud of you. Lastly,I must thankall of my familyfor their encouragement andsupport throughoutmy stay here at UT. AlthoughI loved working in Okefenokee,you always made coming home worthwhile andI wouldn't trade that for anything. Thankyou. iv ABSTRACT The Florida black bear(Ursus americanusjloridanus) exists as 7 relatively disjunct populations in Alabama,Florida, Georgia,and possibly Mississippi. In197 4, the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission listed the Florida black bearas threatened statewide because of habitat loss andillegal killing. Althoughthe species has not been affordedfederal protection, the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService is currently involved in a lawsuit over this issue. Althougha judge's decision is still pending in the case, the earlierruling by the USFWS could be reversed andthe Florida black bearwould be grantedfe deral protectionas a ''threatened" species. I investigated population size anddensity of Florida black bearsin the Okefenokee-Osceolaecosystem in southeast Georgia andnorthcentral Florida. I sampled bearsat the OkefenokeeNational WildlifeRefuge (ONWR) andOsceola National Forest (ONF). This study provided a rareopportunity to compareestimates between a hunted (ONWR) andunhunted (ONF) assemblage of bearswithin the samepopulation. In addition to livetrapping,I also sampledeach study area using a non-obtrusive samplingtechnique of collecting hair samples fromfree -rangingbears using baited barbed-wireenclosures. Individualidentification was facilitatedby microsatellite analysisof DNA extractedfrom collected hairsamples. From 1995-1998, I, along with other project personnel, live captured 123 individual bears208 times on the Okefenokee area and 79 bears13 2 times on the Osceola area. Duringthe 15 weeks of hairsampling, 43 5 and742 bearvisits resulted in the collection of374 and 637 hairsamples on the Okefenokee andOsceola study areas, V respectively. A subsampleof 79 hair samples w�s randomlyselected foranalysis from the Okefenokeedata. Complete multi-locus genotypes were obtained for78 of those samples,of which 39 individual bearswere identified. Eighty-eight hairsamples were chosen foranalysis from the Osceola data; complete multi-locus genotypes from 37 bears were obtained from84 samples. All sampleswere analyzed at the same8 microsatellite loci. The heterogeneity model Mh produced anestimate of71 (95% CI= 59-91) bears 2 forthe Okefenokeestudy area,corresponding to a density of0.14 bears/km • On the Osceola study area, the null model Mo estimated population size at 44 (95% CI= 40-57) 2 bears,or 0.12 bears/km • The hair-samplingtechnique is a promising new tool formark-recapture experiments andbear research. Because largeareas can be sampledat one time, spatial andtemporal variationin capture probabilities can be overcome. Likewise, trapresponse biasis likely minimized because the "capture"involves no physical restraint or undo stress. Based on the above, largesample sizes can be collected in a relatively short period oftime. Thereby facilitatingthe use of closed models forestimating population size. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 General Problem Statement ................................................................ 1 Justification..................... ; .................................................................. 4 Objectives .................................................................
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