The influence of road networks on brown bear spatial distribution and habitat suitability in a human-modified landscape

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60460709%3A41330%2F23%3A97289" target="_blank" >RIV/60460709:41330/23:97289 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13023" target="_blank" >http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13023</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13023" target="_blank" >10.1111/jzo.13023</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The influence of road networks on brown bear spatial distribution and habitat suitability in a human-modified landscape

Original language description

Roads are human infrastructure that heavily affect wildlife, often with marked impacts on carnivores, including brown bears Ursus arctos. Here, we assessed the potential impact of road networks on the distribution of brown bears in the small, isolated and endangered Cantabrian population of north-western Spain. To ascertain whether local road networks affect brown bear spatial distribution, we first assessed potential influences on the distance of bear locations to roads using candidate models which included topographic variables, landcover types, bear age and reproductive status, traffic volume and road visibility. Then, we built two sets of habitat suitability models, both with and without roads, to discern the possible loss of habitat suitability caused by roads. The mean distance of bear locations to the nearest road was 968 +/- 804 m and the closest road was a low traffic road in 72.5% of cases. Candidate models showed little influence of our variables on bear distance to the nearest road, with the exception of elevation. Habitat suitability models revealed that road networks in our study area seem to have almost no effect on brown bear habitat suitability, except for females with yearlings during the denning season. However, this result may also be a consequence of the fact that only a small proportion (16.5%) of the cells classified as suitable bear habitats were crossed by roads, that is, most of the roads are primarily located in unsuitable bear habitats in the Cantabrian Mountains. Compared to previous studies conducted in other populations, mainly North American ones, our findings might suggest a different response of Eurasian brown bears to roads due to a longer bear-human coexistence in Europe versus North America. However, the indirect approach used in our study does not exclude other detrimental effects, for example, road mortality, increased stress and movement pattern disruption, only detectable by more direct approaches such as telemetry.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Zoology

ISSN

0952-8369

e-ISSN

0952-8369

Volume of the periodical

319

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

15

Pages from-to

76-90

UT code for WoS article

000862267200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85139073558