Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on July 23, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of British Columbia, 2000. / "September 2000." Title from front page; viewed on 6/6/02. Displays in grey scale. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42).

Thesis (M.S.)--Montana State University, 1985. / Cover title. "March 1985." Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-94).

Between 1984 and 1988, 4756 hours of activity data were collected on 15 different grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Flathead drainage of southeastern British Columbia and adjacent portions of Montana. Data were collected with the aid of portable chart recorders that recorded the output from motion-sensitive radio collars. While many benefits stem from remote sensing of a study animal as intractable as the grizzly, both the method of data collection and the assumptions employed in translating chart recordings into quantitative measures of bear activity may affect conclusions drawn. Major objectives of this study were: 1) to assess the validity of procedures employed to translate continuous chart recordings of signal patterns from motion-sensitive radio collars into quantitative measures of bear activity; 2) to assess whether active and inactive bout lengths were related to sex and age related differences in energetic requirements and seasonal differences in food type; and 3) to document activity budgets and patterns as functions of sex, age, season, and the daily solar cycle. In the absence of concurrent visual observations of grizzly bears and recorded signal patterns, the validity of procedures used to interpret chart recordings was assessed by estimating percent of time active (%TA) under varying definitions of active and inactive bouts, and by comparing %TA to values found by other researchers. Estimates of %TA were stable over the range of activity bout definitions examined. Stability resulted from bears spending most of their time in active and inactive bouts > 30 min duration. Estimates of %TA for this study agreed with results on other populations. Over the non-denning portion of the year, grizzly bears were active about 55% of the time. Analyses of bout durations were plagued by a bias against active bouts to be monitored in their entirety, because when active, bears frequently moved out of range of the chart recorder. The distribution of activity over the 24-hour cycle differed from many other studies in that bears in the Flathead were active mostly in daylight hours. A greater use of darkness by bears in the fall, compared to other seasons, may be related to available daylight or to avoidance of hunters. While activity patterns were generally bimodal with activity peaks in morning and evening, the morning activity peak was not strongly tied to sunrise. Activity in the morning generally reached a peak 1 or more hours after sunrise. Seasonal trends in activity budgets conformed to physiological changes in bears necessitated by requirements for denning. Significant individual variation exists in both activity patterns and budgets, and may be related to body size, to frequency dependent foraging strategies, or to differing competitive ability for defendable resources among sex-age classes of bears. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (M. F. A.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2005. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-40).

Thesis (M.S.) --University of Montana, 2008. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on May 15, 2009. ETD number: etd-01142009-131434. Author supplied keywords: bear rubs ; grizzly bear ; mark-recapture ; noninvasive genetic sampling ; Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem ; Pradel model ; trend monitoring ; Ursus arctos. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) --University of Montana, 2008. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on May 15, 2009. ETD number: etd-12302008-135445. Author supplied keywords: Grizzly ; stakeholder ; Idaho ; Bitterroot ; reintroduction. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Montana, 2008. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on June 19, 2009. ETD number: etd-01142009-131434. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

The persistence of grizzly bears (<i>Ursus arctos</i>) in western Alberta is threatened by increasing human activities on the landscape. The Foothills Research Institute Grizzly Bear Program (FRIGBP) hypothesizes human-caused landscape change in Alberta causes long-term stress in individual bears, resulting in impaired biological functions and, when many bears are affected, decreased population performance. To facilitate the evaluation of individual grizzly bear health within the FRIGBP, the objective of my research was to develop and assess the usefulness of a health function score system for grizzly bears. From a large set of complex biological data collected from grizzly bears from 1999 to 2007, I merged 14 � constituent� variables into four health functions; growth, immunity, movement, and stress. For each health function, I calculated individual scores by adding ranked and weighted variable percentiles. I found that health function scores corresponded well with health status of individual bears based on values for multiple constituent variables. The score system facilitated quick screening of health in individual bears, identification of bears with reduced health, and comparison of health profiles between bears. I examined the usefulness of the score system by evaluating relationships presumed to exist under the working hypothesis of the FRIGBP. Results generated from health function scores were compared with those from constituent variable values using statistical and graphical techniques. I concluded that scores likely provided clearer depiction of wildlife health relationships than did constituent variables because they were not influenced by capture method, sex, or outlying observations. By using the score system, I found support for the proposed positive relationship between human-affected landscape condition and stress, but not for inverse relationships between stress and other health functions. The usefulness of the score system could be increased by minimizing use of redundant constituent variables, e.g., in growth and immunity, and removing the influence of potential confounding factors, e.g., capture.