Research On Foraging Habitat And Nutritional Analysis Of Herbivorous Food Of Black Bear

On the basis of the ecological theory and combination of use about field investigation technique of wild animal, it is carried out the two-year research on the feeding selection of black bear at the Tongzhou Longkou Nature Reserve of the southern hillside of the Xiaoxing'anling Mountains from April in 2007 to November 2008. And during this time, it is done the laboratory analysis to crude protein, crude fat and crude fiber of nutrition of main food on black bear in the field. Study on the feeding selection of black bear is done under the reference of distribution of home range, which places randomly lines-transect with the method of mechanical distribution. 345 Sampling plots (10m×10m) were set. The center and opposite angles of big quadrat are set up respectively the small quadrat (1m×1m), totally in 1725. It is took down the situation of feeding, including cover type, density of arbor, density of bush, coverage of herbage, Sheltering class, canopy, gradient, slope, slope direction, altitude, density of fallen tree, distance of the water supply, distance of jamming ,geographical factor, rocks on the uphill and traces of feeding of black bear . Apart from sampling point installed in the line-transect, if it is discovered the traces of feeding of black bear, and besides record of habitat factor, it is took down the type of food that black bear eats as well. The quadrat that has the traces of feeding of black bear is regarded as quadrat of use, and other quadrats regared as quadrat of constrast. The nutrition of food of black bear is the plant food that black beat obtains from the five small quadrats that is collected, and it should be weighed and brought to the laboratory, and then put into the oven and baked in order to use in the experiment of nutrition. The data of field is analyzed statistically with use of the statistical software, namely SPSS13. 0. The result shows that:In the cover type, the main choice of crop type for black bear is the broad leaved forest and mixed coniferous broad leaved forest. The black bear is fond of the mixed coniferous broad leaved forest during spring and summer. The black bear feeds even wider range in autumn and takes to move at the mixed coniferous broad leaved forest and broad leaved forest. The change of the masking level, canopy and density of cover all shows that is high in summer and low during spring and autumn. Normally, the black bear keeps away from the downhill location and like living at the feeding of uphill location and heavy gradient. The seasonal difference of density factor of fallen tree is not obvious. The black bear has the seasonal transport phenomenon in space. In spring, the black bear mostly gathers at the northern remote mountains of the reserve. In summer, the black bear can move to the Wulahun tree tram and Xinglong tree farm that is the boundary of Longkou forest farm and feed at the farthest. In autumn, the black bear returns to the northern remote mountains of the reserve gradually, and searches the hibernaculum in order to prepare the hibernation until the spring of the coming year. At the vertical trend, the black bear chooses the high altitude localities that is nearer the hibernacolum in spring, and moves to the relatively low mesoslope in summer, and then lives at the territory of maximum magnitude and relatively low altitude, and following moves to the high altitude and searches the hibernaculum.In spring, the most important habitat factor of feeding of black bear is the high altitude (>450m), uphill location and rocks on the uphill. Besides, Environmental factor is the main factor that influences the feeding selection of black bear, including gradient, masking level and canopy. Meanwhile, the feeding selection is also influenced by cover factor, interference factor and factor of direction of hillside. The black bear prefers the mixed coniferous broad leaved forest to the coniferous leaved forest. The resource selection functions of feeding of black bear in spring is:Logisitic(p)=-2.3992-0.9273X₁₀-5.5518X₁-2.9028X₇-2.918X₉-0.9675X₈-3.3927X₆-6.1068X₅-1.0238X₁₁+1.1319X₁₄.In summer, the cover type is the most important habitat feature of feeding of black bear. The terrain factor is main factor that influences the feeding selection of black bear, including altitude, gradient and location of uphill. Meanwhile, the feeding selection is also influenced by interference factor, cover factor and factor of masking level and direction of hillside. The black bear is fond of the habitat that is higher altitude (>350m) and located on the uphill location and moderate gradient. And it prefers the mixed coniferous broad leaved forest to the coniferous leaved forest. The resource selection functions of feeding selection of black bear in summer is: Logisitic(p)=-0.6151+1.7237X₁-1.3893X₆-0.3601X₅+0.5965X₁₁-0.3434X₉+0.1224X₈-0.0079X₁₂-0.1705X₁₃+0.7781X₁₅.In autumn the terrain factor is main influential factor of the feeding selection of black bear, including altitude, gradient, and location of uphill and distance of jamming. In addition, the factor of resource and masking level also has an effect on it. In autume, the distribution of food of the black bear is the widest and richest. The black bear takes to choose the mixed coniferous broad leaved forest and mixed broad leaved forest, and searches the food at the moderate and lower altitudes. The resource selection functions of feeding selection of black bear in autumn is: Logisitic(p)=0.5460-3.5095X₇+2.2073X₉-4.2705X₈+1.1497X₆-0.8076X_s-1.764X₂-0.9924X₄+0.892X₁₂+1.224X₁₃+0.2906X₁₁.When the animal chooses the food, it always tends to eat the favorable and new species and refuses to eat lesser favorable species no matter how familiar it is. The animal makes the choice according to the nutritive quality of food. They choose the food strictly in order to keep the intaking amount from all kinds of nutrtion in balance. Nutrition of 21 kinds of Herbivorous food of Black bear was determined in spring, summer and autumn. The value of Nutrition content was determined, In summer, protein content of Herbivorous food of black bear is the highest, The crude fat content in summer is the lowest, crude fiber content in the autumn is the highest .On the nutritional content of differences testing, The result showed that crude fat, content between spring and summer and between summer and autumn were significant differences (P<0.05). Other nutrient content between the seasons are not significant differences.