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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Summer Home Range Fidelity In Adult Female Elk (Cervus Elaphus) In Northwestern Colorado, April M. Brough Dec 2009

Summer Home Range Fidelity In Adult Female Elk (Cervus Elaphus) In Northwestern Colorado, April M. Brough

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding the degree of spatial fidelity of individuals within a species increases our ability to manage appropriately. Elk (Cervus elaphus) is a highly managed species in the Intermountain West, but there is little research evaluating summer home range fidelity of individual elk. We evaluated fidelity of 72 adult female elk to individual summer-fall home ranges in the White River study area in northwestern Colorado during two consecutive summers. Based on individual kernel-estimated utilization distributions, we used (1) the Volume of Intersection (VI) statistic and (2) interannual distances between centers of mass to compare summer range overlap and distribution. …


Survival And Productivity Of A Low-Density Black Bear Population In Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, Roger A. Baldwin, Louis C. Bender Jan 2009

Survival And Productivity Of A Low-Density Black Bear Population In Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, Roger A. Baldwin, Louis C. Bender

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Historically, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) has supported a small black bear (Ursus americanus) population of low productivity. Increased visitor use of the park and development around its periphery could lead to a reduction in population viability of RMNP’s bear population or could increase the potential for human–bear conflict. Therefore, we investigated contemporary survival and productivity parameters for RMNP’s black bear population from 2003 to 2006 and compared these values to historic levels (1984–1991) and population means throughout the western United States to clarify the current status of RMNP’s bear population. The contemporary black bear population showed signs …


Trans Fatty Acids Provide Evidence Of Anthropogenic Feeding By Black Bears, Gregory W. Thiemann, Randal S. Stahl, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Stewart W. Breck Jan 2008

Trans Fatty Acids Provide Evidence Of Anthropogenic Feeding By Black Bears, Gregory W. Thiemann, Randal S. Stahl, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Stewart W. Breck

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Bears (Ursus spp.) that become conditioned to anthropogenic food sources pose a risk to human safety and generally need to be relocated, rehabilitated, or destroyed. Identifying food-conditioned bears may be difficult if the animal is not captured or killed while immediately engaged in the nuisance behavior. Fatty acid signature analysis has been used to examine the dietary habits of bears and other carnivores and is based on the predictable incorporation of ingested fatty acids into the consumer’s fat stores. Unusual fatty acids that are available in only a few food types may be particularly useful dietary markers. In this …


Growth And Survival Of Colorado Squawfish In The Upper Colorado River, D. B. Osmundson, Ronald J. Ryel, T. E. Mourning Jan 1997

Growth And Survival Of Colorado Squawfish In The Upper Colorado River, D. B. Osmundson, Ronald J. Ryel, T. E. Mourning

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Growth and adult survival rates were estimated for the endangered Colorado squawfish Ptychocheilus lucius inhabiting the upper Colorado River by using data from fish captured during 1990–1995. Mean annual growth rates of fish aged 3–6 years ranged from 32.2 (age 6) to 82.0 (age 3) mm/year. Growth rates for older fish were highest for fish 400–449 mm total length, TL, (42.7 mm/year) and declined to 19.8 mm/year for fish 500–549 mm TL. Fish 550 mm and longer grew an average 9.5 mm/year. Survival rates for fish 550 mm and longer were estimated by comparing measured size distributions with simulated stable …