Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Colorado
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Problem statement: Non-biological factors are often used to delineate management units for wildlife species. In cases where species distribution and movement information is available, functional boundaries may be preferred. So What? Why this research matters: The ability to formally delineate population boundaries based on the movement and space use of actual animals can aid in the effective management of wildlife populations. Collaboration/Partners: This project is in collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Research That Informs Decisions: Formal statistical models that account for the phenology of sea ice in the north Atlanta and Bering seas on the movement of polar bears can help cluster individuals into sub-populations based on their space use. These sub-populations and estimated boundaries can help set future management decisions.