Test of a habitat suitability index for black bears in the southern Appalachians

摘要: We present a habitat suitability index (HSI) model for black bears (Ursus americanus) living in the southern Appalachians that was developed priori from literature, then tested using location and home range data collected Pisgah Bear Sanctuary, North Carolina, over 12-year period. The HSI initially bear 2 years sanctuary. increased number of sampling sites, included areas affected by timber harvest, used more recent Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to create accurate depiction sanctuary, evaluated effects input variability on values, duplicated original tests data. found predicted selection population individual levels distribution collared were positively correlated with values. stronger relationship between second-generation HSI. our criteria suggested Roloff Kernohan (1999) evaluating reliability concluded reliable robust. model's strength is it as an hypothesis directly modeling critical resources fitness independent spatially continuous surface where potential contribution depicted at each point space.