Randomized shortest paths for Grizzly Bear dispersal between the GYE and NCDE

Publication Date

2017

Start Date

2000-05-01

End Date

2015-10-31

van Manen, F.T., Peck, C.P., Costello, C.M., Haroldson, M.A., Landenburger, L.A., Roberts, L.L., Bjornlie, D.D., and Mace, R.D., 2017, Potential movement paths for male grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) dispersal between the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems, 2000-2015: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F72V2F2W.

Randomized Shortest Path rasters were generated to delineate potential movement corridors of dispersal for male-mediated gene flow between grizzly bear populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). For several decades, grizzly bear populations in the GYE and NCDE have increased in number and range extent. Current occupied range for these two populations is separated by a geographic distance of ~110 km and the potential for immigration into the GYE from an NCDE migrant, or vice versa, is greater now than it has been for many decades. However, unlike occupied core habitat, the interstitial area between occupied ranges of the two populations is a region comprised of complex landscape mosaics under multiple jurisdictions and with varied land ownerships and multiple anthropogenic uses. Whereas the NCDE population in north central Montana is contiguous with grizzly bear populations in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, genetic evidence suggest the GYE population to the south remains isolated. Connectivity to facilitate gene flow has been a long-term management goal. RSP raster datasets provide detailed, spatially-explicit information for land managers and organizations working with land owners to identify and prioritize conservation measures that maintain or enhance the integrity of potential movement paths for grizzly bears.

ScienceBase WMS

ScienceBase WCS

• Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Data source

Input directly