Habitat Use, Movement Patterns, and Potential Corridors for Wolverines on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, USA
摘要
Wolverines (Gulo gulo) occur throughout the northern boreal forest and subarctic and alpine tundra of the northern hemisphere. Most wolverine mortality has been attributed to human causes; thus, it has been important to prevent mortality and ensure immigration from protected refugia. The wolverine population on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, USA has been described as the most genetically isolated population of wolverines across Alaska and western Canada. Our specific objective was to identify potential movement corridors for wolverine on the Kenai Peninsula so that resource managers could include that information in planning for habitat management, resource development, and infrastructure development (including transportation). We used a Bayesian Network (BN) to express relationships among wolverines and characteristics of land cover classes and other landscape variables to describe habitat quality throughout the Kenai Peninsula. We used core areas to identify high-quality habitats among which we described movement patterns for wolverine. To identify potential movement corridors, we used a combination of least-cost modeling, circuit theory, and a map of resistance to movement by wolverines. Our analysis showed multiple potential corridors for wolverines throughout the center third of the Kenai Peninsula. Wolverines need this connectivity maintained because they are particularly vulnerable to effects of fragmentation.