Anthropogenic Infrastructures Shape Brown Bear Movements in Human-Modified Landscapes

Area of Science:

• Wildlife Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Movement Ecology

Background:

• Large carnivore populations in Europe have been historically persecuted and experienced habitat changes.
• Brown bears (Ursus arctos) exhibit diverse adaptations to human activities, either avoiding or exploiting human-modified environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess regional consistency of brown bear movement patterns across Europe.
• To investigate the influence of local environmental and anthropogenic factors on brown bear behavior.

Main Methods:

• Utilized long-term GPS-telemetry data from 108 brown bears across Finland, Slovakia, and Romania.
• Calculated movement speed, direction, and daily displacement.
• Employed mixed-effects models to analyze the impact of human infrastructure on bear movements, including area-specific interactions.

Main Results:

• Finnish bears displayed higher movement speeds and daily displacements than Slovak and Romanian bears, irrespective of infrastructure proximity.
• Finnish and Slovak bears increased speed and distance near transport infrastructure, while Romanian bears showed the opposite.
• Romanian bears increased speed near settlements, whereas Finnish and Slovak bears reduced speed and displacement.

Conclusions:

• Brown bear movement patterns are not uniform across Europe and are significantly influenced by regional factors.
• Contrasting responses to human infrastructure suggest complex interactions between bear needs and local environmental conditions in human-modified landscapes.