The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?

The brown bear population in Alberta, Canada has been decreasing, while the Swedish has been increasing and all the affecting parameters are not known. This study examined the difference in these populations to see if an explanation could be found in differences between the forest management. The ai...

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Autor principal: Petré, Anna Maria
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
sueco
Publicado: SLU/Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies 2013
Materias:
_version_ 1855570888295972864
author Petré, Anna Maria
author_browse Petré, Anna Maria
author_facet Petré, Anna Maria
author_sort Petré, Anna Maria
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description The brown bear population in Alberta, Canada has been decreasing, while the Swedish has been increasing and all the affecting parameters are not known. This study examined the difference in these populations to see if an explanation could be found in differences between the forest management. The aim of the paper was to see if stand treatments had an influence of brown bears habitat selection in autumn in Sweden and how the results can be used in Alberta. This was done by analyzing bear positions in Sweden with forest data, and comparing forest management data for the study area in Sweden with forest management data for Alberta. The results displayed that mature forests over 60 years that have been commercially thinned are selected by bears rather than forests over 60 years that have not been commercially thinned in. From pre-commercial thinning no conclusions for bears in general could be done, but males tend to select for stands that has been pre-commercial thinned. Forest management in the two study areas differs with the emphasis on pre-commercial thinning and commercial thinning being carried out in Sweden but not in Alberta. The conclusion is that forest management influences bears habitat selection during autumn and the theory is that thinning increases the berry production by opening up the canopy and increasing the nutrient availability. Alberta might be able to promote their bear population by thinning, however experiments should be done to see if there is an increase in berry production in Alberta as in Sweden.
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institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
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publishDate 2013
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spelling RepoSLU57062013-06-20T11:36:47Z The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry? Skogsskötselåtgärders påverkan på brunbjörnens (Ursus arctos) habitatval i Sverige – ett alternativ för skogsbruket i Alberta? Petré, Anna Maria forestry treatments stand treatments habitat selection commercial thinning pre-commercial thinning Ursus arctos bears forest management and foraging The brown bear population in Alberta, Canada has been decreasing, while the Swedish has been increasing and all the affecting parameters are not known. This study examined the difference in these populations to see if an explanation could be found in differences between the forest management. The aim of the paper was to see if stand treatments had an influence of brown bears habitat selection in autumn in Sweden and how the results can be used in Alberta. This was done by analyzing bear positions in Sweden with forest data, and comparing forest management data for the study area in Sweden with forest management data for Alberta. The results displayed that mature forests over 60 years that have been commercially thinned are selected by bears rather than forests over 60 years that have not been commercially thinned in. From pre-commercial thinning no conclusions for bears in general could be done, but males tend to select for stands that has been pre-commercial thinned. Forest management in the two study areas differs with the emphasis on pre-commercial thinning and commercial thinning being carried out in Sweden but not in Alberta. The conclusion is that forest management influences bears habitat selection during autumn and the theory is that thinning increases the berry production by opening up the canopy and increasing the nutrient availability. Alberta might be able to promote their bear population by thinning, however experiments should be done to see if there is an increase in berry production in Alberta as in Sweden. Alberta, Canada har under en längre tid haft en minskande björnpopulation. I motsats har Sverige har haft en kraftigt växande stam. Denna studie ämnar svara på huruvida björnens habitatval påverkas av skogsskötselåtgärder på hösten samt hur resultaten kan användas i Alberta. För att uppnå syftet med uppsatsen har björnpositioner analyserats tillsammans med skoglig data i Sverige och därefter blivit jämförd med skogsdata från studieområden, ett i Sverige och ett i Alberta. Resultatet påvisar att björnar i Sverige selecterar gallrad skog över 60 år framför ogallrad skog över 60 år för födosök under hösten. För röjning kunde inte några generella slutsatser dras för samtliga björnar, men hanar visas selektera röjd skog framför oröjd skog. Skogsbruket skiljer sig mellan Sverige och Alberta. Den största skillnaden återfinns framförallt vad gäller röjning och gallring, som utförs i Sverige men inte i Alberta. Slutsatsen är därför att skogsskötseln påverkar björnens habitatval i Sverige under hösten och därmed eventuellt också björnpopulationen i sig. Detta tros bero på att gallring och röjning gynnar bärproduktionen genom ökad näringstillgång och ljusinsläpp. Alberta kanske kan gynna sin björnpopulation med gallring. Först bör dock försök genomföras i Alberta, för att se huruvida åtgärderna resulterar i ökad bärproduktion som i Sverige. SLU/Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies 2013 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/5706/
spellingShingle forestry treatments
stand treatments
habitat selection
commercial thinning
pre-commercial thinning
Ursus arctos
bears
forest management and foraging
Petré, Anna Maria
The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title_full The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title_fullStr The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title_full_unstemmed The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title_short The influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (Ursus arctos) habitat selection in Sweden – an option for Alberta forestry?
title_sort influence of forestry stands treatments on brown bears (ursus arctos) habitat selection in sweden – an option for alberta forestry?
topic forestry treatments
stand treatments
habitat selection
commercial thinning
pre-commercial thinning
Ursus arctos
bears
forest management and foraging