Abstract 160 – American black bear habitat selection and movement in a gradient of industrial disturbance within the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada

Rebecca A. Paton, Paul F. Frame, Scott E. Nielsen, Mark A. Edwards

Anthropogenic disturbances are expanding, which can affect wildlife species’ movement and
behaviour. Some wildlife species avoid anthropogenic disturbance while others adapt their
behaviour to coexist. The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is a highly adaptable bear
species that habituates to anthropogenic disturbance and capitalizes on human foods within
the urban-wildland interface. Bears alter their movement and behaviour in response to
anthropogenic disturbance, resulting in changes to seasonal and diel patterns. Bears in the
urban-wildland interface avoid more active disturbances, increase nocturnality, and reduce
movement rates. Well managed industrial disturbances are unique due to mandatory
workforce training and waste management practices that nearly eliminate common attractants
that contribute to human-bear conflict in the urban-wildland interface. However, while
industrial activities are also expanding in bear habitat, few studies have assessed bear
behaviour in relation to industrial disturbances. We investigated black bear movement, habitat
use, and activity patterns across a gradient of industrial disturbance in the Athabasca Oil Sands
Region of northeastern Alberta, Canada. Seventy-three black bears fitted with GPS collars were
monitored for 1–2 years to assess the effect of industrial disturbances on seasonal and
temporal movement rates, habitat use, and activity patterns by sex and reproductive class. We
estimated individual bear home ranges seasonally and report their overlap with industrial
disturbance, in addition to how movement and behaviour compared on and off disturbed sites.
We present these results and discuss management implications, as well as comparisons with
findings from urban-wildland interfaces.