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Evaluation of the Distribution, Habitat Selection, and Landscape-Scale Movement of Fisher Populations in Rhode Island /

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Evaluation of the Distribution, Habitat Selection, and Landscape-Scale Movement of Fisher Populations in Rhode Island // Laken S Ganoe.
Author:	Ganoe, Laken S.,
Description:	1 electronic resource (174 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-11, Section: B.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International85-11B.
Subject:	Ecology. -
Online resource:	https://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=31148503
ISBN:	9798382718637

Evaluation of the Distribution, Habitat Selection, and Landscape-Scale Movement of Fisher Populations in Rhode Island /
Ganoe, Laken S.,

Evaluation of the Distribution, Habitat Selection, and Landscape-Scale Movement of Fisher Populations in Rhode Island /Laken S Ganoe. - 1 electronic resource (174 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-11, Section: B.

The fisher is a mesocarnivore of the family Mustelidae and is a generalist predator that inhabits the temperate deciduous and coniferous forests of North America. Fishers are a prized furbearer due to their long and dense fur, which is used in making luxury clothing. By 1930, fishers were extirpated in southern New England (i.e., Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut). However, due to subsequent trapping restrictions, landscape-scale reforestation, and recolonization programs in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York, fisher have been able to recolonize their presumed historic range in southern New England, including the state of Rhode Island beginning in 1985. Currently, fishers are annually harvested in the state of Rhode Island without explicit knowledge of the environmental and anthropogenic factors that promote and limit their distribution and abundance. The goal of this dissertation research was to investigate the distribution and ecology of fisher in Rhode Island to better understand how fishers live in a mixed rural and urban landscape and to inform best management practices for the species in the state.In the first chapter of this dissertation, I fitted dynamic occupancy models to camera trapping data to investigate the distribution of fisher and four other mesocarnivores (i.e., bobcat, coyote, gray fox, and red fox) across Washington, Kent, Providence, and Bristol counties in Rhode Island. I examined how the occupancy dynamics of each species changed relative to natural and anthropogenic disturbance over eight seasons. I detected variation among the five mesocarnivores in their response to disturbance. I found gray fox and fisher to be highly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, changes in climatic conditions, season, and natural disturbance in the form of mass tree mortality caused by a spongy moth larval outbreak. For bobcat, I observed large magnitude responses to changes in climatic conditions and anthropogenic disturbance. Red fox response to season and time since mass tree mortality were also of large magnitudes, and coyote responded most positively to anthropogenic disturbance. My findings in this chapter indicated declines in occurrence from 2019 to 2023 for both fox species, and resident fisher and bobcat. Whereas bobcat were predicted to respond positively to future climate scenarios with increasing summer and winter precipitation in this region, fisher were not, and persistence of fisher in this landscape altered by anthropogenic and natural disturbance relies on large zones of forest and shrubland cover.In the second chapter of this dissertation, I narrowed my focus to examine fine-scale habitat selection of GPS-collared fisher to investigate how they respond to areas with risk of mortality, like roads. I found that fisher response to the risk associated with roads varied with spatial and temporal context and depended on forest composition within an individual's home range. Fisher selected areas farther from roads more frequently than what was available to them, particularly during daylight hours in moderate to low cover areas. Areas near roads were only used at night in high cover zones. Fisher also selected areas with more severe tree mortality than what was available. Additionally, my results showed that fisher response to risk was a function of forest composition within their home range, with fisher that had more forest in their core home range than outside of it utilized areas near roads regardless of cover at night, and in high cover zones during twilight and daytime, whereas fisher with less forest in their core home range than outside of it always avoided roads except in high cover zones at night. The results from this second chapter provide evidence of fisher acclimatization to a highly human modified landscape given their individual experiences, and that associations with road may be on a risk-reward gradient.In the final chapter of this dissertation, I used accelerometer data collected via GPS collars fit to individual fisher to examine what factors influence fisher activity. I focused on two distinct research objectives to understand the 1) physiological constraints, and 2) ecological components of fisher activity in a highly disturbed landscape. I found that for both research objectives, fisher activity patterns were primarily related to diel cycle with higher activity levels at night than during the day. Additionally, female activity levels differed by breeding status with non-pregnant females having higher activity levels than pregnant females. Considering ecological components, during summer when fisher activity has previously been reported to be highest, I found decreased activity levels in higher road density areas that coincides with higher traffic volumes. For fisher living in areas with lower road densities, I observed higher activity in the breeding/denning season (i.e., March - April) and summer (i.e., May - July) than in winter (i.e., January - February). In contrast, fisher living in areas with high road densities had lower activity in the breeding season and summer than in winter. Findings from this chapter suggest that behavioral shifts in activity are impacted by human activity and human landscape modification and fisher minimize activity levels in these areas, possibly through adopting alternative foraging strategies like scavenging. The compiled results from all three chapters of this dissertation imply that the Rhode Island fisher population is potentially in decline since 2019, most likely because of their sensitivity to disturbance. However, this decline may be a result of population fluctuations related to oversaturation that may have occurred where fisher recolonizing the state have exceeded their carrying capacity and are now declining to more appropriate densities. My investigations provide evidence of behavioral plasticity in response to anthropogenic disturbance in mesocarnivores; however, human activity, particularly vehicular traffic, poses a major threat to fisher and other mesocarnivores across the state. In Rhode Island, management practices such as changing bag limits, conserving corridors between pockets of forested land, aiding regeneration in areas of tree mortality, and installing effective road crossing structures could assist fisher and other mesocarnivore populations across the state.

English

ISBN: 9798382718637Subjects--Topical Terms:

516476
Ecology.
Subjects--Index Terms:

Activity patterns

Evaluation of the Distribution, Habitat Selection, and Landscape-Scale Movement of Fisher Populations in Rhode Island /
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520 $a The fisher is a mesocarnivore of the family Mustelidae and is a generalist predator that inhabits the temperate deciduous and coniferous forests of North America. Fishers are a prized furbearer due to their long and dense fur, which is used in making luxury clothing. By 1930, fishers were extirpated in southern New England (i.e., Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut). However, due to subsequent trapping restrictions, landscape-scale reforestation, and recolonization programs in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York, fisher have been able to recolonize their presumed historic range in southern New England, including the state of Rhode Island beginning in 1985. Currently, fishers are annually harvested in the state of Rhode Island without explicit knowledge of the environmental and anthropogenic factors that promote and limit their distribution and abundance. The goal of this dissertation research was to investigate the distribution and ecology of fisher in Rhode Island to better understand how fishers live in a mixed rural and urban landscape and to inform best management practices for the species in the state.In the first chapter of this dissertation, I fitted dynamic occupancy models to camera trapping data to investigate the distribution of fisher and four other mesocarnivores (i.e., bobcat, coyote, gray fox, and red fox) across Washington, Kent, Providence, and Bristol counties in Rhode Island. I examined how the occupancy dynamics of each species changed relative to natural and anthropogenic disturbance over eight seasons. I detected variation among the five mesocarnivores in their response to disturbance. I found gray fox and fisher to be highly sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, changes in climatic conditions, season, and natural disturbance in the form of mass tree mortality caused by a spongy moth larval outbreak. For bobcat, I observed large magnitude responses to changes in climatic conditions and anthropogenic disturbance. Red fox response to season and time since mass tree mortality were also of large magnitudes, and coyote responded most positively to anthropogenic disturbance. My findings in this chapter indicated declines in occurrence from 2019 to 2023 for both fox species, and resident fisher and bobcat. Whereas bobcat were predicted to respond positively to future climate scenarios with increasing summer and winter precipitation in this region, fisher were not, and persistence of fisher in this landscape altered by anthropogenic and natural disturbance relies on large zones of forest and shrubland cover.In the second chapter of this dissertation, I narrowed my focus to examine fine-scale habitat selection of GPS-collared fisher to investigate how they respond to areas with risk of mortality, like roads. I found that fisher response to the risk associated with roads varied with spatial and temporal context and depended on forest composition within an individual's home range. Fisher selected areas farther from roads more frequently than what was available to them, particularly during daylight hours in moderate to low cover areas. Areas near roads were only used at night in high cover zones. Fisher also selected areas with more severe tree mortality than what was available. Additionally, my results showed that fisher response to risk was a function of forest composition within their home range, with fisher that had more forest in their core home range than outside of it utilized areas near roads regardless of cover at night, and in high cover zones during twilight and daytime, whereas fisher with less forest in their core home range than outside of it always avoided roads except in high cover zones at night. The results from this second chapter provide evidence of fisher acclimatization to a highly human modified landscape given their individual experiences, and that associations with road may be on a risk-reward gradient.In the final chapter of this dissertation, I used accelerometer data collected via GPS collars fit to individual fisher to examine what factors influence fisher activity. I focused on two distinct research objectives to understand the 1) physiological constraints, and 2) ecological components of fisher activity in a highly disturbed landscape. I found that for both research objectives, fisher activity patterns were primarily related to diel cycle with higher activity levels at night than during the day. Additionally, female activity levels differed by breeding status with non-pregnant females having higher activity levels than pregnant females. Considering ecological components, during summer when fisher activity has previously been reported to be highest, I found decreased activity levels in higher road density areas that coincides with higher traffic volumes. For fisher living in areas with lower road densities, I observed higher activity in the breeding/denning season (i.e., March - April) and summer (i.e., May - July) than in winter (i.e., January - February). In contrast, fisher living in areas with high road densities had lower activity in the breeding season and summer than in winter. Findings from this chapter suggest that behavioral shifts in activity are impacted by human activity and human landscape modification and fisher minimize activity levels in these areas, possibly through adopting alternative foraging strategies like scavenging. The compiled results from all three chapters of this dissertation imply that the Rhode Island fisher population is potentially in decline since 2019, most likely because of their sensitivity to disturbance. However, this decline may be a result of population fluctuations related to oversaturation that may have occurred where fisher recolonizing the state have exceeded their carrying capacity and are now declining to more appropriate densities. My investigations provide evidence of behavioral plasticity in response to anthropogenic disturbance in mesocarnivores; however, human activity, particularly vehicular traffic, poses a major threat to fisher and other mesocarnivores across the state. In Rhode Island, management practices such as changing bag limits, conserving corridors between pockets of forested land, aiding regeneration in areas of tree mortality, and installing effective road crossing structures could assist fisher and other mesocarnivore populations across the state.
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