Habitat Use by American Black Bears in the Sandhills of Florida

January 1, 2001

Habitat Use by American Black Bears in the Sandhills of Florida

We used compositional analysis to determine seasonal and annual habitat use by black bears (Ursus americanus floridanus) on Eglin Air Force Base (Eglin AFB), Florida, 1994-1996. Habitat use was nonrandom for annual (P = 0.0027), summer (P = 0.0002), and fall (P = 0.0006) periods. Riparian zones had the highest annual use followed by swamps, pine plantations, sandhills, and open areas. Annual use of riparian zones and swamps differed (P = 0.025), and each showed greater use than the remaining habitat associations. Riparian zones and swamps also ranked highest for summer and fall. Sandhills received their highest rank, third, in the fall. The high use of riparian zones demonstrates the importance of habitats associated with rivers and streams to black bears on Eglin AFB.

Author(s) Marty R. Stratman and C. David Alden and Michael R. Pelton and Melvin E. Sunquist
Volume 12
Issue
Pages 109-114
Publication Date 1 January 2001
DOI
File Size 266.77 KB
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