Seasonal habitat selection and geographic distribution of the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus japonicus)

Tomoko Doko, Wenbo Chen

Asiatic black bear’s life style is different by seasons. The objectives are to investigate whether the Asiatic black bear has different preference for habitat or environmental conditions in different seasons and how the seasonality affects its distribution. MaxEnt and its jackknife test were used to determine seasonal geographic distribution and seasonal relative importance of habitat respectively. The study areas are three local populations in Fuji, South Alps, and Tanzawa, Japan. Vegetation cover, the relative importance of variables, and prediction patterns in distribution were similar in summer and autumn. For the summer and autumn, the selected predictors were altitude, distance to paths and stone steps, distance to wide roads, and vegetation cover types. However, for spring and winter, instead of altitude, temperature variables were selected. It suggests that temperature limits the bear’s capabilities to survive in these seasons more than the altitude does. Habitat selection in summer and autumn is similar, but relative importance of predictors depends on season.