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Predicted connectivity pathways between grizzly bear ecosystems in Western Montana: spatial data

Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) connectivity pathways delineate predicted movement routes for grizzly bears between federally designated recovery zones in and near western Montana. These raster data are the official data release for Sells et al. (2023), "Predicted connectivity pathways between grizzly bear ecosystems in Western Montana." In summary, we built on recent work by Sells et al. (2022, 2023) to simulate movements using integrated step selection functions (iSSFs) developed from GPS-collared grizzly bears (F = 46, M = 19) in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). We applied the iSSFs in a >300,000 km2 area including the NCDE, Cabinet–Yaak (CYE), Bitterroot (BE), and Greater Yellowstone (GYE) Ecosystems to simulate habitat use between ecosystems. We employed two simulation methods. First, we simulated directed movements (randomized shortest paths with 3 levels of exploration) between start and end nodes across populations. Second, we simulated undirected movements from start nodes in the NCDE, CYE, or GYE (no predetermined end nodes). We summarized and binned results as classes 1(lowest relative predicted use) -10 (highest relative predicted use) and evaluated predictions using 127 outlier grizzly bear locations. Connectivity pathways were primarily associated with mountainous areas and secondarily with river and stream courses in open valleys. Values at outlier locations indicated good model fit and mean iSSF classes at outlier locations (≥7.4) and Spearman rank correlations (≥0.87) were highest for undirected simulations and directed simulations with the highest level of exploration. Our predictive maps can facilitate on-the-ground application of this research for prioritizing habitat conservation, human-bear conflict mitigation, and transportation planning.

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Author(s) Sarah N Sells orcid, Cecily M. Costello
Publication Date 2024-07-11
Beginning Date of Data 2003-05-01
Ending Date of Data 2023-06-01
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DOI https://doi.org/10.5066/P91EWUO8
Citation Sells, S.N., and Costello, C.M., 2024, Predicted connectivity pathways between grizzly bear ecosystems in Western Montana: spatial data: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P91EWUO8.
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Metadata Date 2024-07-11
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Citations of these data No citations of these data are known at this time.
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License http://www.usa.gov/publicdomain/label/1.0/
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Harvest Source: ScienceBase
Harvest Date: 2024-07-18T13:40:47.875Z