cougar ecology and behavior in a wildland-urban
TRANSCRIPT
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COUGAR ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR IN A WILDLAND-URBAN ENVIRONMENT IN
WESTERN WASHINGTON
Brian N. Kertson, Ph.D. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
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HUMANS AS A LIMITING FACTOR
Habitat loss*
Competition for prey biomass
Disease Over-harvest
Social tolerance*
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WASHINGTON AND PEOPLE
• Increasing human population
-WA 2030: 8.4 million
• Habitat loss
-WA: 27 km² per year
• High levels of interaction
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COUGARS IN A RAPIDLY URBANIZING WORLD
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1) Spatial ecology and behavior in the Wildland-Urban Interface and residential areas
2) Understand the role of cougar population characteristics in use of residential areas
3) Develop management recommendations
COUGAR WILDLAND-URBAN ECOLOGY
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STUDY AREA
• 3,500 km2
• Topographically complex
• Densely forested, wet
• Gradient of residential development
Seattle
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GPS COLLARS
• Vectronics GPS Plus-1D
• 6 fixes/day
• Globalstar satellite uplink or UHF download on demand
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UTILIZATION DISTRIBUTION (UD)
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SPATIAL ANALYSES
• Resource Utilization Functions (RUFs)
-Home range, wildland, and
residential
-Population and individual
• Movements rates (m/hr)
-Location, Time, L x T
Y = β0 + β1x1+ β2x2 + β3x3 + βnxn ……
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WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE (WUI)
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RESIDENTIAL USE
• Residential use common
• Overlap:
-93% of cats (n = 27)
Average:
-Volume = 16.86% ± 17.05
-Area = 18.35% ± 16.75
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AVERAGE USE RELATIVE TO WUI
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Sex Age Social
UD
Re
sid
en
tial
Ove
rlap
(%
) DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
Male (n = 17)
Adult (n = 24)
Subadult (n = 9)
Resident (n = 21)
Transient (n = 12)
f1,28 = 0.6990, P = 0.41 f1,28 = 6.990, P = 0.01 f1,28 = 0.0004, P = 0.98
Female (n = 16)
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INTERACTION RATE
• Marked cougars (n = 32):
-1.6 interactions per 1,000 radio days
• Adjusted rate:
-1.9 interactions per 1,000 radio days
• 2,323 observations ≤ 500 m from development:
-Interactions in 0.0073% of observations
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WILDLAND VS. RESIDENTIAL SPACE USE
*n = 19 cougars, 24 cougar-yrs
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MOVEMENTS
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Diel Crepuscular Nocturnal
Mo
vem
en
t R
ate
(m
/hr)
Movement Period
Wildland
Residential
Time: f2,53 = 4.180, P = 0.02 Loc. : f1,53 = 1.141, P = 0.29 L x T: f2,53 = 0.500, P = 0.61
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WILDLAND-URBAN ECOLOGY
• Adaptable
• Cover, prey, and connectivity
• Suitable habitat interspersed with development
• Use residential areas like wildlands
• Full suite of normal behaviors
• Low interaction rates → high coexistence
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RESIDENTIAL THRESHHOLDS
Residential Density (km2)
Location n 50% CDF 95% CDF 99% CDF
Westside 14 0.890 177.6 846.0
Cle Elum 20 0.030 19.6 89.0
Okanogan 19 0.083 19.8 99.0
Northeast 15 0.113 2.6 9.9
*81.6% of use in areas < 1 residence/km2
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COUGAR WILDLAND-URBAN ECOLOGY
• Cougars use of residential areas will continue:
-Connectivity, cover, and prey
• Cougars and people are coexisting
• Education and landscape planning is key
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CARNIVORE CONSERVATION MUST BE MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Wildlife Professionals
Education and Outreach Landscape and Urban Planners
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LANDSCAPE PLANNING
Low density, diffuse High density, concentrated
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Kertson et al. 2011
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PROPELLING COUGAR MANAGEMENT
…………..FORWARD
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Do cougar population characteristics influence use of residential areas and
interactions with people?
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POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
• Vital rates
• Immigration/emigration
• Population growth
• Age structure
• Sex ratios
• Density
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• 13 captures
-3 adult M
-3 subadult M
-4 adult F
-3 subadult F
• 85% use residential
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F13
F4
F8
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RESIDENTIAL USE
• Cougar space use
-Utilization distribution
• Residential vs. wildland
Measure overlap in ArcMap
(Kertson et al. 2013)
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MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
• Maintain cougar population viability and minimize risks
-How to manage pops in wildland-urban landscapes
-Improved outreach and education
• Cougars in wildland-urban landscapes
-Source or sink?
-Demographic or behavioral differences
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STATISTICAL ANALYSES
• ANOVA fixed-effects
-Study area
-Period (pre/post closure)
-Study area x Period
• t – tests
-Population characteristics
• Multiple regression
-Residential use ~ population characteristics
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NEXT STEPS
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Questions?