Nate Mikle (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Grizzly Bear Dispersal
This work has two components. First, we developed a method to use our family tree data to examine dispersal. Next, we would like to apply this method to our updated and more complete family tree to improve our understanding of how grizzly bears disperse.
Grizzly Bear Family Tree
Building a family tree of grizzly bears can both satisfy our natural curiosity about bear society and answer many ecologically important questions about the ways bears interact with each other and the landscape.
Ecology of Elk on Department of Interior Lands in Southwest Wyoming
Between 2005 and 2010, we radio- collared 61 female elk (Cervus elaphus) on Fossil Butte National Monument and 12 female elk near Cokeville, Wyoming, slightly northwest of the Monument, all from the West Green River herd. We are using the 209,250 locations from these elk to identify seasonal distribution patterns, evaluate habitat use, and assess factors influencing the timing of migration. ...
Comparative performance and trend of remotely sensed phenology and productivity metrics across the Western United States
Vegetation phenology and productivity play a crucial role in surface energy balance, plant and animal distribution, and animal movement and habitat use and can be measured with remote sensing metrics including start of season (SOS), peak instantaneous rate of green-up date (PIRGd), peak of season (POS), end of season (EOS), and integrated...
Graves, Tabitha; Berman, Ethan Edward; Mikle, Nathaniel; Merkle, J. A.; Johnston, Aaron; Chong, Geneva W. To forage or flee: Lessons from an elk migration near a protected area
Alteration of wide-ranging wildlife migrations can drastically impact the structure and function of ecosystems, yet the causes and consequences of shifting migration patterns remain largely unknown. Management decisions made in one portion of a landscape may induce spatial and temporal shifts of wildlife use in another, creating tension among...
Mikle, Nathaniel; Graves, Tabitha A.; Olexa, Edward M. Mapping a keystone shrub species, huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), using seasonal colour change in the Rocky Mountains
Black huckleberries (Vaccinium membranaceum) provide a critical food resource to many wildlife species, including apex omnivores such as the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), and play an important socioeconomic role for many communities in western North America, especially indigenous peoples. Remote sensing imagery offers the potential for accurate...
Shores, Carolyn R.; Mikle, Nathaniel; Graves, Tabitha A. Nature vs. nurture: Evidence for social learning of conflict behaviour in grizzly bears
The propensity for a grizzly bear to develop conflict behaviours might be a result of social learning between mothers and cubs, genetic inheritance, or both learning and inheritance. Using non-invasive genetic sampling, we collected grizzly bear hair samples during 2011–2014 across southwestern Alberta, Canada. We targeted private agricultural...
Morehouse, Andrea T.; Graves, Tabitha A.; Mikle, Nathaniel; Boyce, Mark S. Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) genetic profiles, 1998-2012
Two independent sampling methods were used to collect genetic samples from grizzly bears (Ursus arctos): (i) hair traps—corrals of barbed wire with lure in the center systematically distributed using an 8 x 8 km (1998, 2000) or 7 x 7 km (2004) grid and (ii) bear rubs—naturally occurring trees or other objects that bears rub on fitted with barbed...
Graves, Tabitha A.; Mikle, Nathaniel; Kendall, Katherine C.; Macleod, Amy C. Demographic mechanisms underpinning genetic assimilation of remnant groups of a large carnivore
Current range expansions of large terrestrial carnivores are occurring following human-induced range contraction. Contractions are often incomplete, leaving small remnant groups in refugia throughout the former range. Little is known about the underlying ecological and evolutionary processes that influence how remnant groups are affected during...
Mikle, Nathaniel; Graves, Tabitha A.; Kovach, Ryan P.; Kendall, Katherine C.; Macleod, Amy C.