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Seismic Cutlines, Changing Landscape Metrics and Grizzly Bear Landscape use in Alberta

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Abstract

Besides providing habitat to the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and other wildlife, the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta, Canada hosts considerable mining, seismic oil and gas exploration and production, and forest harvesting activities. Worldwide, such human activities influence the configuration and composition of the landscape. We assessed seismic cutline effects on landscape structure and grizzly bear use during early summer of 1999 and 2000. We studied five female and two male bears, which were GPS-collared in the spring following den emergence. The area available to this population was stratified into 49 km2 hexagon-shaped sub-landscapes. The scale of this stratification was determined by patterns of bear movement. Fourteen compositional and configurational landscape metrics were calculated within each landscape unit, and bear use points were pooled or ‘binned’ within each unit. Landscape use was related to landscape metrics using a Generalized Linear Model (GLM). We found that seismic cutline proportion did not explain landscape use by grizzly bears; however secondary effects of cutlines on landscape structure did. Declining use was mainly associated with increasing proportions of closed forest, and increasing variation of inter-patch distances, while use was mainly increasing with increasing mean patch size. An earlier investigation had demonstrated that adding seismic cutlines to grizzly bear habitat caused increases in the variation of inter-patch distances. Since the landscape structure of this grizzly bear population will continue to change as a function of increased levels of resource extraction activities in the near future, it is crucial to further study the detailed meaning of landscape structure at the large and small scale for effective conservation efforts.

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Author notes

  1. Julia Linke

    Present address: Julia Linke, 443 RR 628, Durnam Bridge, N.B. E6C 1A4, Canada

  2. Steven E. Franklin

    Present address: University of Saskatchewan, RPO University Saskatoon SK, Box 5000, S7N 4J8, Canada

  3. Falk Huettmann

    Present address: EWHALE lab- Biology and Wildlife Department, Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks AK, 99775-7000, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W. Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada

    Julia Linke, Steven E. Franklin & Falk Huettmann

  2. Alberta Sustainable Resource Department, Forest Wildlife Division, and Foothills Model Forest, Box 6330, AB T7V 1X6, Hinton, Canada

    Gordon B. Stenhouse

Authors
  1. Julia Linke
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  2. Steven E. Franklin
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  3. Falk Huettmann
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  4. Gordon B. Stenhouse
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Correspondence to Julia Linke.

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Linke, J., Franklin, S.E., Huettmann, F. et al. Seismic Cutlines, Changing Landscape Metrics and Grizzly Bear Landscape use in Alberta. Landscape Ecol 20, 811–826 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-005-0066-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-005-0066-4

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