Female black bear home range and resource selection in relation to West Virginia mine lands

Abstract

AbstractWildlife space use is a key component to consider when determining effective conservation and management practices. Home range size and resource selection can vary temporally and spatially depending on mortality risks in the area and access to food resources. Lands used for coal mining can contain unique mortality risks and food resources for American black bears (Ursus americanus) relative to surrounding landscapes due to hunting restrictions, vegetation planted as part of the reclamation process, and other anthropogenic food resources. We examined the influence of mining sites on resource selection of female black bears in southern West Virginia, USA, during 2007 and 2008. We estimated home range size with Brownian Bridge movement models and evaluated variation in home range size with mixed‐effects linear regression. We evaluated resource selection with mixed‐effects Poisson point process models. On mine sites, the mean 95% home range for female black bears was 1,996 ha (SD = 2,633) in the autumn and 544 ha (SD = 238) in the spring, and on non‐mine sites the mean 95% home range was 1,926 ha (SD = 1,292) in the autumn and 771 ha (SD = 480) in the spring. Our resource selection model indicated black bears used nonhunting zones associated with mine lands much greater than their availability, and that black bears in mine areas disproportionately used areas in close proximity to anthropogenic structures. Interannual variation in home range size was likely associated with mast conditions, because smaller home ranges were associated with high mast production. Our data suggest black bears may be using non‐hunting zones within mine lands as refugia from hunting and are using anthropogenic food sources available at refuse sites on mine lands, which may increase regional black bear populations in areas with high mining activity.