Cecily M. Costello

Predicting future grizzly bear habitat use in the Bitterroot Ecosystem under recolonization and reintroduction scenarios: spatial data

Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) habitat use maps delineate predicted habitat use for grizzly bears around the Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE), a federally designated recovery zone in western Montana and central Idaho. These raster data are the official data release for Sells and Costello (2024), “Predicting future grizzly bear habitat use in the Bitterroot Ecosystem under recolonization and reintroduction scenarios.” Many conservation actions must be implemented with limited data. This is especially true when planning recovery efforts for extirpated populations, such as grizzly bears within the Bitterroot Ecosystem (BE), where strategies for reestablishing a resident population are being evaluated. Here, we applied individual-based...

Tags: Bitterroot Ecosystem, Bitterroot Ecosystem, Idaho, Montana, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, All tags... Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, US Northern Rocky Mountains, United States, Ursus arctos, bears, connectivity, farming, grizzly bears, habitat use, integrated step selection functions, movement ecology, natural resource management, Fewer tags

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

The Randomized Shortest Path (RSP) raster delineates potential dispersal paths for male-mediated gene flow between grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). A RSP algorithm was used to estimate the average number of net passages for all grid cells at a spatial resolution of 300 m in the study region which spans parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. RSP rasters identify potential movement paths for 3 levels of random deviation determined by the parameter Θ (i.e., Θ = 0.01, 0.001, and 0.0001) for bears moving from an origin to a destination node. Lower values of Θ result in greater exploration and more random deviation around...

Categories: Data; Types: Citation, Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: Glacier National Park, Grizzly Bears, Idaho, Montana, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, All tags... Wyoming, Yellowstone Ecosytem, bears, biota, connectivity, corridor, dispersal, ecology, grizzly bear, movement, random shortest path, step-selection model, Fewer tags

Over the past two centuries, persecution and habitat loss caused grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) to decline from a population of approximately 50,000 individuals to only 4 fragmented populations within the continental United States. In recent decades, these populations have increased and expanded in size and range due to collaborative conservation efforts and protections under the Endangered Species Act. Today, population estimates exceed 1000 animals each in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The Selkirk Ecosystem (SE) has approximately 50 grizzly bears, and augmentations into the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem (CYE) helped boost the population to an estimated 50 – 60...

Categories: Data Release - Revised; Tags: Bitterroot Ecosystem, Bitterroot Ecosystem, Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem, Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, All tags... Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Idaho, Montana, North Cascades Ecosystem, North Cascades Ecosystem, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, Selkirk Ecosystem, Selkirk Ecosystem, US Northern Rocky Mountains, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Ursus arctos, Washington, Wyoming, bears, biota, connectivity, grizzly bears, habitat use, integrated step selection functions, movement ecology, natural resource management, Fewer tags

For several decades, grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) have increased in numbers and range extent. Whereas the NCDE population is contiguous with grizzly bear populations in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, genetic evidence suggests the GYE population remains isolated. Recent analyses indicate the effective population size of GYE grizzly bears has increased and is approaching levels needed for long-term viability. With only ~110 km distance separating current estimates of occupied range for these populations, the potential for immigration into the GYE from an NCDE migrant, or vice versa, is likely greater now than...

Tags: Ecology, Glacier National Park, Grizzly Bears, Idaho, Montana, All tags... Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, Wyoming, Yellowstone Ecosytem, Yellowstone National Park, bears, biota, connectivity, corridor, dispersal, ecology, grizzly bear, movement, random shortest path, step-selection model, Fewer tags

Predicted grizzly bear movement pathways in Central Montana: spatial data

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) have been increasingly observed in central Montana’s plains in recent years. To assist with conservation planning, we sought to predict habitat use and connectivity pathways for grizzly bears east of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) and northeast of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). We used the methods described in Sells et al. (2023b), "Predicted connectivity pathways between grizzly bear ecosystems in Western Montana," to simulate grizzly bear movements along the edges of the NCDE and GYE and into central Montana. Simulated grizzly bears used riparian areas in the plains most heavily, along with isolated mountain ranges. Based on known outlier locations and locations...

Tags: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Montana, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, All tags... US Northern Rocky Mountains, United States, Ursus arctos, Wyoming, bears, biota, connectivity, grizzly bears, habitat use, integrated step selection functions, movement ecology, natural resource management, Fewer tags