Responses of American black bears to spring resources

Abstract In temperate regions of the world, food resources are seasonally limited, which causes some wildlife species to seek out nutrient‐rich resources to better meet their caloric needs. Animals that utilize high‐quality resources may reap fitness benefits as they prepare for mating, migration, o...

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Autores principales:	Nathaniel R. Bowersock, Andrea R. Litt, Jerod A. Merkle, Kerry A. Gunther, Frank T. van Manen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	American black bear Cervus canadensis elk forage quality green‐up neonates Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/23949d0044c2491da88d3ec2ce2bcfc9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:23949d0044c2491da88d3ec2ce2bcfc92021-11-29T07:06:42ZResponses of American black bears to spring resources2150-892510.1002/ecs2.3773https://doaj.org/article/23949d0044c2491da88d3ec2ce2bcfc92021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3773https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925Abstract In temperate regions of the world, food resources are seasonally limited, which causes some wildlife species to seek out nutrient‐rich resources to better meet their caloric needs. Animals that utilize high‐quality resources may reap fitness benefits as they prepare for mating, migration, or hibernation. American black bears (Ursus americanus) are omnivores that consume both plant and animal food resources to meet macronutrient needs. Black bears capitalize on high‐quality food resources, such as soft mast in summer and hard mast during autumn, but we know less about the importance of resource quality during spring. Therefore, we sought to understand the relationship between the spatiotemporal variation in the availability of food and resource selection of black bears during spring. We also aimed to infer potential changes in foraging tactics, from opportunistic foraging to more active selection. Although black bears are described as opportunistic omnivores, we hypothesized they select areas with high‐quality forage when available. We instrumented 7 black bears with GPS collars in 2017 and 2018 and estimated fine‐scale resource selection with integrated step‐selection functions. We found evidence that black bear movements were influenced by forage quality of vegetative food resources. However, we failed to find evidence that black bears actively alter their movements to take advantage of seasonal neonate elk. Although black bears represent a substantial cause of mortality for neonate elk, we found that black bears likely feed on neonates encountered opportunistically while traveling between patches of high‐quality forage. Few studies have shown evidence of an omnivorous species capitalizing on spatiotemporal variation in forage quality, yet our data suggest this may be an important strategy for species with diverse diets, particularly where resources are seasonally limited.Nathaniel R. BowersockAndrea R. LittJerod A. MerkleKerry A. GuntherFrank T. van ManenWileyarticleAmerican black bearCervus canadensiselkforage qualitygreen‐upneonatesEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcosphere, Vol 12, Iss 11, Pp n/a-n/a (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	American black bear Cervus canadensis elk forage quality green‐up neonates Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	American black bear Cervus canadensis elk forage quality green‐up neonates Ecology QH540-549.5 Nathaniel R. Bowersock Andrea R. Litt Jerod A. Merkle Kerry A. Gunther Frank T. van Manen Responses of American black bears to spring resources
description	Abstract In temperate regions of the world, food resources are seasonally limited, which causes some wildlife species to seek out nutrient‐rich resources to better meet their caloric needs. Animals that utilize high‐quality resources may reap fitness benefits as they prepare for mating, migration, or hibernation. American black bears (Ursus americanus) are omnivores that consume both plant and animal food resources to meet macronutrient needs. Black bears capitalize on high‐quality food resources, such as soft mast in summer and hard mast during autumn, but we know less about the importance of resource quality during spring. Therefore, we sought to understand the relationship between the spatiotemporal variation in the availability of food and resource selection of black bears during spring. We also aimed to infer potential changes in foraging tactics, from opportunistic foraging to more active selection. Although black bears are described as opportunistic omnivores, we hypothesized they select areas with high‐quality forage when available. We instrumented 7 black bears with GPS collars in 2017 and 2018 and estimated fine‐scale resource selection with integrated step‐selection functions. We found evidence that black bear movements were influenced by forage quality of vegetative food resources. However, we failed to find evidence that black bears actively alter their movements to take advantage of seasonal neonate elk. Although black bears represent a substantial cause of mortality for neonate elk, we found that black bears likely feed on neonates encountered opportunistically while traveling between patches of high‐quality forage. Few studies have shown evidence of an omnivorous species capitalizing on spatiotemporal variation in forage quality, yet our data suggest this may be an important strategy for species with diverse diets, particularly where resources are seasonally limited.
format	article
author	Nathaniel R. Bowersock Andrea R. Litt Jerod A. Merkle Kerry A. Gunther Frank T. van Manen
author_facet	Nathaniel R. Bowersock Andrea R. Litt Jerod A. Merkle Kerry A. Gunther Frank T. van Manen
author_sort	Nathaniel R. Bowersock
title	Responses of American black bears to spring resources
title_short	Responses of American black bears to spring resources
title_full	Responses of American black bears to spring resources
title_fullStr	Responses of American black bears to spring resources
title_full_unstemmed	Responses of American black bears to spring resources
title_sort	responses of american black bears to spring resources
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/23949d0044c2491da88d3ec2ce2bcfc9
work_keys_str_mv	AT nathanielrbowersock responsesofamericanblackbearstospringresources AT andrearlitt responsesofamericanblackbearstospringresources AT jerodamerkle responsesofamericanblackbearstospringresources AT kerryagunther responsesofamericanblackbearstospringresources AT franktvanmanen responsesofamericanblackbearstospringresources
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Responses of American black bears to spring resources

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