A "clearcut" case? Brown bear selection of coarse woody debris and carpenter ants on clearcuts.

ABSTRACT: Forest management alters habitat characteristics, resulting in various effects among and within species. It is crucial to understand how habitat alteration through forest management (e.g. clearcutting) affects animal populations, particularly with unknown future conditions (e.g. climate change). In Sweden, brown bears (Ursus arctos) forage on carpenter ants (Camponotus herculeanus) during summer, and may select for this food source within clearcuts. To assess carpenter ant occurrence and brown bear selection of carpenter ants, we sampled 6999 coarse woody debris (CWD) items within 1019 plots, of which 902 were within clearcuts (forests ⩽30 years of age) and 117 plots outside clearcuts (forests >30 years of age). We related various CWD and site characteristics to the presence

SUBMITTER: Frank SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4459689 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature