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Theoretical and empirical research indicates that territoriality is related to habitat productivity. Female black bears (Ursus americanus) exhibit intrasexual territoriality in northern North America where habitat productivity is low. However, telemetry studies show that adult female black bears in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, where productivity is higher, exhibit considerable home range overlap. This overlap was quantified using an index that weighs home range overlap by the extent that 2 bears share parts of their home ranges. Home range of adult females overlapped extensively during each year and season. Females who reached sexual maturity established home ranges close to their mothers or took over their mothers' home ranges if their mothers had died. The importance of sample size and statistical and biological independence of bear locations to home range analysis is unclear.