Wildlife habitat enhancements for grizzly bears: Survival rates of planted fruiting shrubs in forest harvests

Forest Ecology and Management

Volume 369, June 01, 2016, Pages 144-154

  (Article)

Braid, A.C.R.^a , 

Manzer, D.^b , 

Nielsen, S.E.^a 

 

^a  Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
^b  Alberta Conservation Association, Blairmore, AB, Canada 

View references (54)

Abstract

Productive grizzly bear foraging habitats are lost as the prevalence of natural forest openings declines. We assessed the effectiveness of using wildlife habitat enhancements to increase food supply forgrizzly bears in recent forest harvests by conducting planting trials of containerized shrub seedlings for three important late-season grizzly bear foods (fruiting shrubs): Shepherdia canadensis (Canada buffaloberry), Vaccinium membranaceum (mountain huckleberry), and Amelanchier alnifolia (saskatoon). We monitored seedling survival over two growing seasons and considered the effects of soil nutrient amendments, exclosures, initial seedling condition, and environmental factors (elevation and terrain). A. alnifolia had the highest survival rate, although it may not be as effective in the long term due to being preferred ungulate winter browse. Soil nutrient amendments reduced survival rates of all three species, perhaps due to competition with grasses, whereas exclosures increased survival rates. Survival rates across an elevation gradient for S. canadensis and A. alnifolia were inversely related to local occupancy rates, demonstrating that knowledge of their realized niche space is not consistent with early establishment rates of seedlings. As the amount of natural forest openings declines, wildlife habitat enhancements in disturbed sites with open canopies, including forest harvests, have the potential to locally increase late-season food supply for grizzly bears. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Author keywords

Buffaloberry; Containerized shrub seedlings; Cut blocks; Huckleberry; Saskatoon; Wildlife food plots

ISSN: 03781127 CODEN: FECMDSource Type: Journal Original language: English

DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2016.03.032Document Type: Article

Publisher: Elsevier

Funding Details

Acronym; Sponsor: NSERC; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

References (54)

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  Braid, A.C.R.; Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Canada; email:abraid@ualberta.ca
© Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.