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Wilderness-Based Ecosystem Protection in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Bader, Mike |
| Copyright Year | 2000 |
| Abstract | Wilderness is a source habitat for grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) populations in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, helping sustain these indicators of ecosystem health. The spatial distribution of grizzly bear mortalities has changed since the end of legal hunting seasons, increasing the source potential of wilderness habitat. Due to its fragmented spatial distribution, wilderness alone cannot sustain viable populations, and wilderness refugia must be linked through strategies that include restoration. A wilderness-based reserve network of 140,000 km 2 is proposed as a foundation for ecosystem protection. A legislative version is before the U.S. Con- gress as The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, H.R. 488. The northern Rocky Mountains represent a unique land- scape in the contiguous United States. It supports free- ranging populations of native large mammals and migratory fish within predator-prey systems, while such systems have largely disappeared from other landscapes. The presence of large areas of federal public lands, wilderness areas and national parks may be a critical factor in the persistence of these unique landscape features. Biodiversity conservation at the landscape level encom- passes thousands of species, about many of which we know little or nothing. For practical reasons, we focus our conser- vation plans on a few species that serve as indicators of ecosystem health and integrity. Wilderness habitat was analyzed for its role as refugia for species that are primary indicators of the health of terres- trial and aquatic ecosystems. Data on grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), were ana- lyzed for their relationships with wilderness habitat. These species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and as Management Indicator Species within the national forest planning process. Both are wide-ranging. Grizzly bears have ranges up to 5,374 km 2 |
| Starting Page | 99 |
| Ending Page | 110 |
| Page Count | 12 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 015 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.wilderness.net/library/documents/Bader_2-13.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
