Forbidden fruit: human settlement and abundant fruit create an ecological trap for an apex omnivore.
J Anim Ecol
; 86(1): 55-65, 2017 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27677529
ABSTRACT
Habitat choice is an evolutionary product of animals experiencing increased fitness when preferentially occupying high-quality habitat. However, an ecological trap (ET) can occur when an animal is presented with novel conditions and the animal's assessment of habitat quality is poorly matched to its resulting fitness. We tested for an ET for grizzly (brown) bears using demographic and movement data collected in an area with rich food resources and concentrated human settlement. We derived measures of habitat attractiveness from occurrence models of bear food resources and estimated demographic parameters using DNA mark-recapture information collected over 8 years (2006-2013). We then paired this information with grizzly bear mortality records to investigate kill and movement rates. Our results demonstrate that a valley high in both berry resources and human density was more attractive than surrounding areas, and bears occupying this region faced 17% lower apparent survival. Despite lower fitness, we detected a net flow of bears into the ET, which contributed to a study-wide population decline. This work highlights the presence and pervasiveness of an ET for an apex omnivore that lacks the evolutionary cues, under human-induced rapid ecological change, to assess trade-offs between food resources and human-caused mortality, which results in maladaptive habitat selection.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ursidae
/
Ecossistema
/
Cadeia Alimentar
/
Movimento
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Anim Ecol
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá