Behavioral habitat selection of wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) in boreal forests

Habitat selection is critical to informing wildlife management and conservation. However, different behaviors require the use of different habitat components. Not considering different behavioral states in habitat selection analyses can overlook factors influencing selection and misinterpretation of direction and strength of selection. We investigated how behavioral states influence habitat selection in female wood bison (Bison bison athabascae). Our objective was to expand the understanding of trade-offs animals make to meet their physiological requirements in a heterogeneous landscape. We visited bison and random locations, to quantify forest vegetation structure and nutritional components of bison's habitat. Bison locations were classified as foraging (23%), traveling (58%), or bedding (20%) based on signs of these behaviors. We then used resource selection functions to evaluate habitat preferences for each behavioral state and all bison locations. All behaviors indicated selection for open habitats consistent with what would be expected for this species. However, traveling and bedding activities were in areas with drier soils, while foraging activities selected for wetter soils. As expected, foraging sites also had plants with more crude protein and digestible energy. Traveling sites also had vegetation with significantly more crude protein than random locations. Our results highlight the importance of upland habitats for wood bison in boreal forests for particular behaviors and nutrition. We suggest consideration of multiple behavioral states when assessing habitat suitability. These considerations are especially important when evaluating habitat for reintroductions and/or habitat reclamation.