Thesis
GLACIER'S WILDLIFE: A NONINVASIVE INVESTIGATION OF A CANADA LYNX POPULATION AND WILDLIFE SPATIOTEMPORAL RESPONSE TO RECREATION IN A POPULAR NATIONAL PARK
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
01/2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004516
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/122919
Abstract
Glacier National Park (GNP) is a large, protected area within the northern Rockies Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) recovery unit, however knowledge of lynx distribution within the park is limited. We completed the first park-wide occupancy survey of lynx using an array of passive camera traps during summer. Within a smaller area of the park, we also tested the possibility of identifying individuals from subtle markings on the inside of the front leg to estimate density via spatially explicit capture-recapture. Finally, we linked park-wide predictions of occupancy with local density to estimate lynx population size across GNP. We found lynx distributed across much of the park and in the density study area we were able to successfully identify ~75% of lynx captures to individual based on coat markings. We estimated the average park-wide lynx density at 1.05/100 km² resulting in an estimated population of 43.07 (SE: 13.78, 95% CI: 23.37 – 79.41) lynx during summer. Based on our results, we propose that GNP should be considered as a potentially important area for lynx habitat refugia in a warming climate.
GNP is an increasingly popular tourist destination for outdoor enthusiasts. A growing body of literature is showing that quiet non-consumptive recreational activities, such as hiking, can impact species and ecosystems in profound ways as wildlife may exhibit attraction or avoidance behaviors towards increased recreation. We investigated the impact of recreation on space use and temporal activity on 12 focal carnivore and ungulate species using a park-wide camera trap dataset and a smaller camera dataset gathered during and after a prolonged partial park closure due to COVID-19 restrictions. Using single-species occupancy models and coefficient of activity overlap methods, we found evidence that recreation affects the spatiotemporal ecology of many medium-large mammalian species in GNP. The influence of recreation was quite pronounced in some cases and highly variable among species, with both positive and negative associations between increased human recreation activity and species’ spatial and temporal responses. We recommend future studies focus on how these behavioral shifts may impact wildlife fitness to help managers understand the tradeoffs associated with increasing recreation on public lands.
Metrics
16 File views/ downloads
41 Record Views
Details
- Title
- GLACIER'S WILDLIFE
- Creators
- Alissa Kate Anderson
- Contributors
- Daniel Thornton (Advisor)John Waller (Committee Member)Caren Goldberg (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 137
- Identifiers
- 99900877441301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis