Palabras clave
climate change
forest understory
home range quality
human conflicts
nutritional condition
Rocky Mountain National Park
Ursus americanus
Cómo citar
Resumen
Human impacts and policies affect carnivores, even within Protected Natural Areas (PNAs). Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in Colorado conserves a small population of American black bears, where harsh high-elevation conditions restrict food availability and diversity, leading to historically low individual condition and demographic fitness. We used resource-area-dependence analysis to identify habitats associated with home range quality and related bear habitat associations at both the landscape and home range scales to nutritional condition of bears. Areas characterized by high human-use were the only habitats significantly positively related to the home range quality of bears in RMNP; bear condition was likewise positively associated with human-use areas during autumn, the season most important for fat accumulation in bears. While use of anthropogenic foods significantly increased individual and demographic fitness of bears in RMNP, use of human-use areas frequently leads to human-bear conflicts. Enhancing natural foraging habitats may help decrease bear dependence on human-use areas and conflicts in and around RMNP. However, contemporary and predicted future trends in key foraging habitats suggest that food availability will further decline for bears in RMNP. Only significant human-induced disturbance can alter this trajectory, but such management is unlikely given U.S. National Park Service non-intervention “ecological process management” (i.e., “natural regulation”) policies.
Citas
Baldwin, R.A. 2008. Population demographics, habitat utilization, critical habitats, and condition of black bears at Rocky Mountain National Park. Ph.D. Dissertation. Las Cruces, NM: New Mexico State University.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2008a. Den-site characteristics of black bears in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Journal of Wildlife Management, 72:1717-1724.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2008b. Distribution, occupancy, and habitat correlates of American martens in Rocky Mountain National Park. Journal of Mammalogy, 89:419-427.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2009a. Foods and nutritional components of diets of black bear in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 87:1000-1008.
Baldwin, R.A., y L.C. Bender. 2009b. Survival and productivity of a low density black bear population in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Human–Wildlife Conflicts, 3:271-281.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2010a. Denning chronology of black bears in eastern Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Western North American Naturalist, 70:48-54.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2010b. Development of equations predictive of size and condition for black bears in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. American Midland Naturalist, 164:44-51.
Baldwin, R.A. y L.C. Bender. 2012. Estimating population size and density of a low-density population of black bears in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 58:557-566.
Baruch-Mordo, S., K.R. Wilson, D.L. Lewis, J. Broderick, J.S. Mao y S.W. Breck. 2014. Stochasticity in natural forage production affects use of urban areas by black bears: implications to management of human-bear conflicts. PloS One, 9(1):e85122.
Beckmann, J.P. y J. Berger. 2003a. Rapid ecological and behavioural changes in carnivores: the responses of black bears (Ursus americanus) to altered food. Journal of Zoology, 261:207-212.
Beckmann, J.P. y J. Berger. 2003b. Using black bears to test ideal-free distribution models experimentally. Journal of Mammalogy, 84:594-606.
Bender, L.C. 2020. Elk, deer, and pinyon-juniper: needs, what works, and what doesn’t. Pp. 34–58, in: Symposium proceedings on piñon-juniper habitats: status and management for wildlife - 2016. (Malcolm, K., B. Dykstra, K. Johnson, D. Lightfoot, E. Muldavin, M. Ramsey, comps). Proceedings RMRS-P-77. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO.
Bender, L.C., M.J. Hartsough, C.L. Rodden, y P.C. Morrow. 2023. Resource dependence analysis of home range quality for pronghorn in south-central New Mexico, USA. Journal of Arid Environments, 210:104907.
Braunstein, J. L., J.D. Clark, R.H. Williamson y W.H. Stiver. 2020. Black bear movement and food conditioning in an exurban landscape. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 84:1038-1050.
Bretfeld, M., S.B. Franklin, y R.K. Peet. 2019. Long-term understory vegetation dynamics of mixed aspen forests in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA. Journal of Vegetation Science, 30:121-133.
Bull, E.L., T.W. Heater y T.L. Wertz. 2001. Black bear habitat use in northeastern Oregon. Western Black Bear Workshop, 7:82-91.
Cattet, M. R., N.A. Caulkett, M.E. Obbard y G.B. Stenhouse. 2002. A body-condition index for ursids. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 80: 1156-1161.
Cimatti, M., N. Ranc, A. Benítez-López, L. Maiorano, L. Boitani, F. Cagnacci, ... y L. Santini. 2021. Large carnivore expansion in Europe is associated with human population density and land cover changes. Diversity and Distributions, 27:602-617.
Cole, D.N., Yung, L. (eds). 2010. Beyond naturalness: Rethinking park and wilderness stewardship in an era of rapid change. Washington DC: Island Press.
CPW. 2015. Human bear conflicts. Denver, CO: Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife. https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Education/LivingWithWildlife/CPW-Human-Bear-Conflict-Report.pdf
Costello, C.M., y R.W. Jr. Sage. 1994. Predicting black bear habitat selection from food abundance under 3 forest management systems. International Conference on Bear Research and Management, 9:375-387.
Eberhardt, L.L. 2002. A paradigm for population analysis of long-lived vertebrates. Ecology, 83:2841-2854.
Elkie, P.C., R.S.Rempel., y A.P. Carr. 1999. Patch Analyst User’s Manual. Technical Manual TM-002. Thunder Bay, Canada: Northwest Science and Technology, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
ESRI. 2010. ArcGIS Desktop: Release 10. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute.
Gittleman, J.L., S.M. Funk., D. Macdonald y R.K. Wayne. 2001. Carnivore conservation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Graber, D.M., y M. White. 1983. Black bear food habits in Yosemite National Park. International Conference on Bear Research and Management, 5:1-10.
Hanks, J. 1981. Characterization of population condition. Pp. 47–73, in: Dynamics of large mammal populations. (Fowler, C.W. and T.D. Smith, eds.). Caldwell, NJ: The Blackburn Press.
Hellgren, E.C., M.R. Vaughan y D.F. Stauffer. 1991. Macrohabitat use by black bears in a southeastern wetland. Journal of Wildlife Management, 55:442-448.
Irwin, L.L., y F.M. Hammond. 1985. Managing black bear habitats for food items in Wyoming. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 13:477-483.
Ivan, J.S., A.E. Seglund, R.L. Truex y E.S. Newkirk. 2018. Mammalian responses to changed forest conditions resulting from bark beetle outbreaks in the southern Rocky Mountains. Ecosphere, 9(8):e02369.
Johnson, H.E., D.L. Lewis y S.W. Breck. 2020. Individual and population fitness consequences associated with large carnivore use of residential development. Ecosphere, 11(5):e03098. 10.1002/ecs2.3098
Johnson, H. E., S.W. Breck, S. Baruch-Mordo, D.L. Lewis, C.W. Lackey, K.R. Wilson,... y J.P. Beckmann. 2015. Shifting perceptions of risk and reward: dynamic selection for human development by black bears in the western United States. Biological Conservation, 187:164-172.
Kaczynski, K.M., E.A. Gage y D.J. Cooper. 2018. Evaluating success of alternative restoration methods for riparian willows: seeding and ungulate exclosures. Ecological Restoration, 36:127-133.
Kelleyhouse, D.G. 1980. Habitat utilization by black bears in northern California. International Conference on Bear Research and Management, 3:221-228.
Kenward, R. E., E.M. Arraut, P.A. Robertson, S.S. Walls, N.M. Casey y N.J. Aebischer. 2018. Resource-Area-Dependence Analysis: Inferring animal resource needs from home-range and mapping data. PLoS One, 13(10):e0206354.
Lewis, D. L., S. Baruch-Mordo, K.R. Wilson, S.W. Breck, J.S. Mao y J. Broderick. 2015. Foraging ecology of black bears in urban environments: guidance for human-bear conflict mitigation. Ecosphere, 6:1-18.
Linke, J., S.E. Franklin, F. Huettmann y G.B. Stenhouse. 2005. Seismic cutlines, changing landscape metrics and grizzly bear landscape use in Alberta. Landscape Ecology, 20:811-826.
Lyons, A.L., W.L. Gaines y C. Servheen. 2003. Black bear resource selection in the northeast Cascades, Washington. Biological Conservation, 113:55-62.
McLoughlin, P.D., S.H. Ferguson y F. Messier. 2000. Intraspecific variation in home range overlap with habitat quality: a comparison among brown bear populations. Evolutionary Ecology, 14:39-60.
NPS. 2014. A comprehensive review of ungulate management by the National Park Service: Second century challenges, opportunities, and coherence. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/BRMD/NRR—2014/898. Ft. Collins, CO: National Park Service.
Pappas, G.S., D.B. Tinker y M.E. Rocca. 2020. Understory vegetation response to mountain pine beetle disturbance in northern Colorado lodgepole pine forests. Plant Ecology, 221:1293-1308.
Pelton, M.R. 2003. Black bear (Ursus americanus). Pp. 547-555, in: Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation. (Feldhamer, G.A., B.C. Thompson, J.A. Chapman, eds.). Second edition, revised. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Pelz, K.A., y F.W. Smith. 2018. Effects of stand structure, browsing, and biophysical conditions on regeneration following mountain pine beetle in mixed lodgepole pine and aspen forests of the Southern Rockies. Forests, 9:525. DOI: 10.3390/f9090525
Pialet, T. 2019. Swath of bear break-ins hits Estes Park. Estes Park CO: Estes Park Trail Gazette, 16 August 2019.
Powers, J., R. Kahn, W. Whitworth, J. Mack y B. Bobowski. 2016. Elk management in the National Park Service: two case studies in the use of public volunteers. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/BRD/NRR—2016/1119. Fort Collins, CO: National Park Service.
Ray, J.C., K.H. Redford., R.S. Steneck y J. Berger. 2005. Large carnivores and the conservation of biodiversity. Washington DC: Island Press.
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). 2008. Climate change in Rocky mountain National Park: preservation in the face of uncertainty. Estes Park, CO: Rocky Mountain National Park, Continental Divide Research Learning Center. https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/management/upload/climate_change_rocky_mountain2.pdf
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). 2012. Bears (updated 31 March 2012). https://www.nps.gov/romo/bears.htm
Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). 2021. Safety (updated 4 January 2021). https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/safety.htm
Rogers, LL. 1987. Effects of food supply and kinship on social behavior, movements, and population growth of black bears in northwestern Minnesota. Wildlife Monographs, 97.
Rogers, L.L. 1993. The role of habitat quality in the natural regulation of black bear populations. Proceedings of the Western Black Bear Conference, 4:95-102.
Salas, D., J. Stevens y K. Schulz. 2005. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado 2001-2005 vegetation classification and mapping. Final Report, Technical Memorandum 8260-05-02. Denver, CO: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Remote Sensing and GIS Group, Technical Service Center.
Stringham, S.F. 1989. Demographic consequences of bears eating garbage at dumps: an overview. Pp. 35-42, in: Bear–people conflicts. (Bromley, M., ed.). Proceedings of a symposium on management strategies. Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada: Northwest Territories Department of Renewable Resources.
Stubblefield, C.H. 1993. Food habits of black bear in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California. Southwestern Naturalist, 38:290-293.
Terraube, J., J. Van Doninck, P. Helle y M. Cabeza. 2020. Assessing the effectiveness of a national protected area network for carnivore conservation. Nature Communications, 11:2957.
van Manen, J. T., C.W. Lackey, J.P. Beckmann, L.I. Muller y Z.H. Li. 2019. Assimilated diet patterns of American black bears in the Sierra Nevada and western Great Basin, Nevada, USA. Ursus, 2019(30e3):40-50.
White, G.C., y R.A. Garrott. 1990. Analysis of wildlife radio-tracking data. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Zar, J.H. 1999. Biostatistical analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0.
Derechos de autor 2026 UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO