Consequences of severe habitat fragmentation on density, genetics, and spatial capture-recapture analysis of a small bear population.

ABSTRACT: Loss and fragmentation of natural habitats caused by human land uses have subdivided several formerly contiguous large carnivore populations into multiple small and often isolated subpopulations, which can reduce genetic variation and lead to precipitous population declines. Substantial habitat loss and fragmentation from urban development and agriculture expansion relegated the Highlands-Glades subpopulation (HGS) of Florida, USA, black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus) to prolonged isolation; increasing human land development is projected to cause ≥ 50% loss of remaining natural habitats occupied by the HGS in coming decades. We conducted a noninvasive genetic spatial capture-recapture study to quantitatively describe the degree of contemporary habitat fragmentation and investigate the

SUBMITTER: Murphy SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5524351 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature