IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Long, R.A.; Donovan, T.M.; Mackay, P.; Zielinski, W.J.; Buzas, J.S. | |
| Predicting carnivore occurrence with noninvasive surveys and occupancy modeling | |
| 2011 Landscape Ecology (26): 327-340 | |
Terrestrial carnivores typically have largehome ranges and exist at low population densities, thuspresenting challenges to wildlife researchers. Weemployed multiple, noninvasive survey methods-scat detection dogs, remote cameras, and hair snares-to collect detection-nondetection data for elusiveAmerican black bears (_Ursus americanus_), fishers (_Martes pennanti_), and bobcats (_Lynx rufus_) throughoutthe rugged Vermont landscape. We analyzed thesedata using occupancy modeling that explicitly incorporateddetectability as well as habitat and landscapevariables. For black bears, percentage of forested landwithin 5 km of survey sites was an important positivepredictor of occupancy, and percentage of humandeveloped land within 5 km was a negative predictor.Although the relationship was less clear for bobcats,occupancy appeared positively related to the percentageof both mixed forest and forested wetland habitatwithin 1 km of survey sites. The relationship betweenspecific covariates and fisher occupancy was unclear,with no specific habitat or landscape variables directlyrelated to occupancy. For all species, we used modelaveraging to predict occurrence across the study area.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses ofour black bear and fisher models suggested thatoccupancy modeling efforts with data from noninvasivesurveys could be useful for carnivore conservationand management, as they provide insights into habitatuse at the regional and landscape scale withoutrequiring capture or direct observation of studyspecies. |
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