CURRENT RESEARCH

Linking resource selection and mortality modeling for population estimation of mountain lions in Montana.

In Montana a combination of limited entry and quotas are used by the Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks (MTFWP) to allow recreational opportunities for the public, while maintaining viable mountain lion populations, thus creating a need for accurage and defensible population estimates. Advances in generalized linear modeling and geographical information systems (GIS) have made available new techniques to quantify and spatially represent resource selection, mortality risk, and population dynamics. Using data provided by MTFWP, I propose to produce spatially explicit models of mountain lion resource selection, survival, densities, and population dynamics. This research will be directed towards aiding MTFWP personnel in developing local harvest strategies and a statewide mountain lion management plan.

PUBLICATIONS

Cooley, H. S., R. B. Wielgus, G. M. Koehler, H. S. Robinson and B. T. Maletzke. 2009. Does hunting regulate cougar populations: a test of the compensatory mortality hypothesis. Ecology 90:2913-2921.

T. L. Johnstone-Yellin, L. A. Shipley, W. L. Myers, and H. S. Robinson. 2009. To twin or not to twin? Tradeoffs in litter size and fawn survival in mule deer. Journal of Mammalogy 90:453-460.

Robinson, H. S., R. Wielgus, H. S. Cooley, and S. W. Cooley. 2008. Sink populations in large carnivore management: cougar (Puma concolor) demography and immigration in a hunted population. Ecological Applications 18:1028-1037. [PDF]

Cooley, H.S., H. S. Robinson, R. B. Wielgus, and C. S. Lambert. 2008. Cougar prey selection in white-tailed deer and mule deer community. Journal of Wildlife Management 72:99-106 .[PDF]

Lambert, C.M.S., R. B. Wielgus, H. S. Robinson, D. D. Katnik, H. S. Cruickshank, R. Clarke, and J. Almack. 2006. Cougar population dynamics and viability in the Pacific Northwest. Journal of Wildlife Management 70:246-254.

Robinson, H. S., R. B. Wielgus, and J. C. Gwilliam. 2002. Cougar predation and population growth of sympatric mule deer and white-tailed deer. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80:556-568.