Food habits of a small Florida black bear population in an endangered ecosystem
| Autor: | David S. Maehr, Wade Allen Ulrey, Sean M. Murphy, Warren G. Abrahamson, Joseph M. Guthrie, John J. Cox, Sutton C. Maehr |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
education.field_of_study Habitat fragmentation biology Ecology Population Habitat conservation Endangered species Management Monitoring Policy and Law biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 010601 ecology Geography Habitat destruction Habitat Animal Science and Zoology Ecosystem Ursus americanus floridanus education Nature and Landscape Conservation |
| Zdroj: | Ursus. 28:92-104 |
| ISSN: | 1938-5439 1537-6176 |
| DOI: | 10.2192/ursu-d-16-00031.1 |
| Popis: | The Highlands–Glades subpopulation (HGS) of Florida, USA, black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus) is small, genetically depauperate, and resides primarily within the endangered Lake Wales Ridge ecosystem, which has lost >85% of native habitat to land development. Habitat loss can reduce availability of critical natural foods and cause bears to increase reliance on anthropogenic foods (i.e., human-sourced); lands supporting the HGS are expected to lose >50% of remaining Florida black bear habitat in coming decades. We used scat analysis to describe seasonal food habits, investigate potential dietary responses to food shortages, and inform habitat conservation and human–bear conflict management. Florida black bears in the HGS mostly relied on native soft and hard mast and invertebrates, which are all available in endangered scrub habitat communities. Corn dispensed at hunter-operated feeding stations was a dominant food item in scats; and other alternative foods, such as citrus fruit and white-ta... |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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