In the western United States, wolverines (Gulo gulo) typically occupy high‐elevation habitats. Because wolverine populations occur in vast, remote areas across multiple states, biologists have an imperfect understanding of this species' current distribution and population status. The historical extirpation of the wolverine, a subsequent period of recovery, and the lack of a coordinated monitoring program in the western United States to determine their current distribution further complicate understanding of their population status. We sought to define the limits to the current distribution, identify potential gaps in distribution, and provide a baseline dataset for future monitoring and analysis of factors contributing to changes in distribution of wolverines across 4 western states. We used remotely triggered camera stations and hair snares to detect wolverines across randomly selected 15‐km × 15‐km cells in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming, USA, during winters 2016 and 2017. We used spatial occupancy models to examine patterns in wolverine distribution. We also examined the influence of proportion of the cell containing predicted wolverine habitat, human‐modified land, and green vegetation, and area of the cluster of contiguous sampling cells. We sampled 183 (28.9%) of 633 cells that comprised a suspected wolverine range in these 4 states and we detected wolverines in 59 (32.2%) of these 183 sampled cells. We estimated that 268 cells (42.3%; 95% CI = 182–347) of the 633 cells were used by wolverines. Proportion of the cell containing modeled wolverine habitat was weakly positively correlated with wolverine occupancy, but no other covariates examined were correlated with wolverine occupancy. Occupancy rates (ψ) were highest in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (ψ range = 0.8–1), intermediate in the Cascades and Central Mountains of Idaho (ψ range = 0.4–0.6), and lower in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (ψ range = 0.1–0.3). We provide baseline data for future surveys of wolverine along with a design and protocol to conduct those surveys. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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金刚狼的占用，空间分布和监控设计

在美国西部，金刚狼（Gulo gulo）通常占据高海拔的栖息地。由于金刚狼种群分布在多个州的广大偏远地区，因此生物学家对该物种的当前分布和种群状况了解得不够完善。金枪鱼的历史灭绝，随后的恢复期以及美国西部缺乏确定其当前分布的协调监测程序，这进一步加剧了人们对其种群状况的了解。我们试图定义当前分布的限制，确定分布中的潜在差距，并提供基线数据集，以供将来监控和分析影响四个西部州狼ver分布变化的因素。在2016年和2017年冬季，我们使用了远程触发的照相台和头发圈套器在爱达荷州，蒙大纳州，华盛顿州和美国怀俄明州的随机选择的15公里×15公里的牢房中检测了金刚狼。我们使用了空间占用模型来检查金刚狼的分布。我们还检查了包含预测的金刚狼栖息地，人类修饰的土地和绿色植被的细胞比例以及连续采样细胞簇面积的影响。我们在这4个州的633个可疑金刚狼范围内采样了183个细胞（28.9％），并在这183个采样细胞中的59个（32.2％）中检测到了金刚狼。我们估计金刚狼使用了633个细胞中的268个细胞（42.3％； 95％CI = 182–347）。含有模拟的金刚狼栖息地的细胞所占比例与金刚狼的占有率呈弱正相关，但没有其他协变量与金刚狼的占有率相关。北部大陆分水岭生态系统的占用率（ψ）最高（ψ范围= 0.8–1），爱达荷州的小瀑布和中部山脉居中（ψ范围= 0.4–0.6），大黄石生态系统中的占有率较低（ψ范围） = 0.1–0.3）。我们提供用于金刚狼未来调查的基线数据，以及进行这些调查的设计和协议。©2020作者。的 我们提供用于金刚狼未来调查的基线数据，以及进行这些调查的设计和协议。©2020作者。的 我们提供用于金刚狼未来调查的基线数据，以及进行这些调查的设计和协议。©2020作者。的Wiley Periodicals，Inc.代表野生动物协会出版的《野生动物管理杂志》。