Welcome to the technical sessions schedule for the 2015 SEAFWA Annual Meeting.
NEW THIS YEAR! The technical schedule is capable of being sorted by date (i.e, Monday, Nov. 2), track (i.e. Wildlife Technical Sessions), or session (i.e. Wildlife Session #1). You can also search for a presentation title (i.e. Changing Landscapes by Coalition), key term (i.e. striped bass), or presenter last name (i.e. Weaver). The sort and search functions can be found on the navigation panel on the right side of this page. If you hover over the "Schedule" button, you’ll also see different schedule view options (i.e. Grid or Simple). Try selecting each of them to see which view you prefer.
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Laura Garland, Connor Ellis, Todd Steury – Auburn University
Little is known about the food habits of black bears (Ursus americanus) in Alabama. A major concern is the amount of human influence in the diet of these bears as human and bear populations continue to expand in a finite landscape, and bear-human interactions are increasing. To better understand dietary habits of bears, 143 scats were collected during the fall months of 2010-2014. Food items were generally classified into the major categories of vegetation, animal prey, and human (cultivated) food. Plant items were classified down to the lowest possible taxon via DNA analysis, as this category composed a majority of the scat volumes. Frequency of occurrence was calculated for each food item. The most commonly occurring foods included: Nyssa spp. (black gum, 25.2%), Poaceae (grass, 24.5%), Quercus (acorn, 22.4%), and Vitis genus (muscadine grape, 8.4%). Interestingly, despite the proximity of these bear populations to suburban locations, we estimated that their diet composition, at least during the period sampled, remained mostly composed of wild plant matter instead of human food; only 19.6% of scats contained corn and no other human foods were encountered. Also, dietary composition did not differ between bears living close to urban areas compared to bears occupying more rural areas. Thus, bears in Alabama do not appear to be relying on humans for food, although further research and monitoring is warranted.
