Biological and environmental correlates of cougar (Puma concolor) survival in west central Alberta
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Large carnivores have a significant role in ecosystems and their role as apex predators can have cascading effects that influence ecosystem stability. Managing large carnivores requires an understanding of how they use the land and their vital rates, including survival. For cougars (Puma concolor), habitat selection is well documented, but the hazards that cougars face across the landscape are poorly understood. The risks that landscape features present can change temporally, increasing survival in one season while being a danger in another. Between 2016 – 2021 87 cougars were radio-collared and tracked in west central Alberta, Canada, for a total of 1158 cougar months with a mean monitoring time of 13.3 months. I documented 41 deaths, determined causes of mortality, generated survival estimates using Kaplan-Meier models by sex and age class annually and for each season [i.e., summer, winter, and hunting (a subset of winter)], and investigated hazards using Cox proportional hazard models. Humans were responsible for 33 of the 41 mortalities reported, with legal harvest being the highest cause of mortality (16/41 mortalities) for both males and females, with males more likely to be harvested. However, I was unable to detect a difference in survival estimates between sexes or age classes. Annual male subadult survival was 0.857 (CI = 0.633 - 1), male adult survival was 0.586 (CI = 0.406 - 0.845), female subadult survival was 0.857 (CI = 0.629 – 1) and female adult survival was 0.628 (CI = 0.512 – 0.770). While survival estimates of both sexes were lowest in the hunting season, I was unable to detect a difference in survival by season. I modelled the risk that biological and environmental variables imposed on each sex using Cox proportional hazards models with the Anderson-Gill model for staggered entry. Hazards differed by sex annually with both sexes showing increased hazard with high crossing rates of secondary roads and linear features, closer proximity to secondary roads and closer proximity and higher density of residential areas. Sexes differed with males showing increased hazard in open areas and wetlands and areas further from water. Females showed no difference in risk by landcover classification or distance to water but showed increased risk with higher primary road crossing rates. Hazards also varied between sexes within 2 of the seasons investigated. In the winter season both sexes had an increased risk with higher crossing rates of secondary roads and linear features as well as increasing proximity to secondary roads. Males also showed increased risk at higher residential densities and closer proximities. Females however had an increased risk with increased crossing rates of primary roads, and lower terrain ruggedness. Additionally, age class significantly influenced risk of males, with male kittens and subadults being higher risk than male adults, as well as increased risk within open areas and closer proximity to secondary roads. Females had increased risk with higher crossing rates of secondary roads and linear features and increased proximity and density of residences. Survival also was examined at a short temporal scale (ca. 48h) to determine proximate variables that resulted in death. For males 48hrs before death, I found kittens and subadults to be at higher risk than adults and that open areas, shrublands, and wetlands all increased risk as well as closer proximity to roads. For females, I found closer proximity to secondary roads and increasing residential density increased risk. Our results provide insight on how biological and environmental variables affect cougar survival and how hazards vary between sexes.
Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.
Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction machine sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Le volet Gemma est une étiquette directe du modèle pour chaque travail de la base, lue sur la notice réduite au titre. Le volet Codex est un classifieur appris des 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et calibré sur les taux pondérés de l'échantillon; les champs sans appui suffisant ne portent aucun appel Codex. Le mode candidate est l'union des deux volets; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont pas des étiquettes humaines.
Scores du classifieur distillé par catégorie (deux têtes)
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,000 | 0,001 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Communication savante | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Science ouverte | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,001 | 0,000 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule source (Gemma direct ou Codex distillé), pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».