Time and spatial trends in the brown bear Ursus arctos population in Slovakia (1900–2010)

Abstract

This work discusses several factors underlying changes in distribution of brown bears in Slovakia.
Our evaluation was carried out based on historical records, map documents, and data from the
bear census in Slovakia (2002–2010), and it was performed with using GIS tools. We concluded
that: i) bears preferred well forested localities with colder climate at higher altitudes and that the
influence of altitude was significantly stronger than the impact of forest cover density, ii) bear
occurrence and relative density gradually decreased with decreasing altitude, iii) in the long term
aspect, the most noticeable fluctuation occurred in medium altitudes from 400–1,100 m a.s.l.
(SD > 10%), the highest stability was observed from 1,500 m a.s.l. (SD < 2%), and absence or
very rare occurrence (less than 5%) was recorded below 300 m a.s.l, iv) unregulated interventions
affected spatial distribution of brown bears across Slovakia in long term perspective. We presume,
that evaluating of the data come from bear census in particular game grounds by using of spatial
analysis will be possible to use as one of the indicator of the state of the population in Slovakia
and for formulation of management of the brown bear.