Modeling Functional Connectivity for Bears Among Spawning Salmon Waterways in Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Territory, Coastal British Columbia

TL;DR

This study maps how bears move between salmon spawning areas in Heiltsuk territory to help with habitat planning.

Contribution

The study integrates Indigenous knowledge and genetic data to model bear movement and functional connectivity in a dynamic ecosystem.

Findings

Modeled current from Circuitscape identified high connectivity areas between salmon spawning sites.

Least cost paths revealed principal movement routes for bears across watersheds.

The model was validated using genetic recapture data to confirm movement patterns.

Abstract

Understanding how functional connectivity can provide mobile consumers access to key resources can inform habitat management. The spatial arrangement of landscape features, for example, can affect movement among resource patches. Guided by the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD), and within Haíɫzaqv Territory, coastal British Columbia (BC), Canada, our objectives were to (1) estimate functional connectivity for grizzly and black bears (
Ursus arctos
and
U. americanus
, respectively) among aggregations of spawning Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), (2) identify important movement pathways for landscape planning, and (3) contribute to the growing body of functional connectivity research on dynamic ecological systems. Using circuit theory and least cost paths, we predicted movement among salmon spawning reaches within a 5618 km2 study area. Variables affecting bear movement were parameterized by drawing on the relevant literature and Haíɫzaqv Knowledge. We validated our cumulative resistance surface with observed movements as identified via genetic recapture data. Modeled current from Circuitscape suggested areas of high connectivity between salmon spawns within and among watersheds. Our least cost paths model identified principal routes, which we then ranked to illustrate possible corridors for consideration by HIRMD planners. Understanding movement among salmon spawns, a fitness‐related food, provides key information to inform landscape planning for bears. Further, our work provides an example of connectivity research codeveloped, executed, and applied with an Indigenous government.

Our team, which included the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD), estimated functional connectivity for grizzly and black bears among aggregations of spawning Pacific salmon, a fitness‐related food. Our model, validated with movement data from genetic tagging, identified important movement pathways to inform landscape planning within Haíɫzaqv Territory. Our work offers an example of applied connectivity research co‐developed with an Indigenous government.

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