Urbanization and associated environmental changes are causing global declines in
vertebrate populations. In general, population declines of the magnitudes now detected …

The idealized concept of a population is integral to ecology, evolutionary biology, and
natural resource management. To make analyses tractable, most models adopt simplifying …

Background Indirect interactions between individual solitary mammals, such as the giant
panda, are often overlooked because of their nature, yet are important for maintaining the …

American black bears (Ursus americanus) are endemic to North America, having speciated
from other ursids some 1.2 to 1.8 million years ago (Kurtn & Anderson 1994). During that …

Harvest can disrupt wildlife populations by removing adults with naturally high survival. This
can reshape sociospatial structure, genetic composition, fitness, and potentially affect …

Multigenerational pedigrees have been developed for free-ranging populations of many
species, are frequently used to describe mating systems, and are used in studies of …

Behavior can strongly influence rates and patterns of hybridization between animal
populations and species. Yet few studies have examined reproductive behaviors in natural …

Understanding the breeding ecology of a species is essential for the appropriate
conservation and management of wildlife. In brown bears, females occasionally copulate …

Understanding factors that influence the viability of populations is central to conservation
biology. Small and isolated populations have elevated risk of extinction due to demographic …

In social species, social relationships of an individual play a crucial role in its fitness, and the
social structure of a population can be vital to its viability. This study investigated the social …