Data from: Does learning or instinct shape habitat selection?

Habitat selection is an important behavioural process widely studied for its population-level effects. Models of habitat selection are, however, often fit without a mechanistic consideration. Here, we investigated whether patterns in habitat selection result from instinct or learning for a population of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in Alberta, Canada. We found that habitat selection and relatedness were positively correlated in female bears during the fall season, with a trend in the spring, but not during any season for males. This suggests that habitat selection is a learned behaviour because males do not participate in parental care: a genetically predetermined behaviour (instinct) would have resulted in habitat selection and relatedness correlations for both sexes. Geographic distance and home range overlap among animals did not alter correlations indicating that dispersal and spatial autocorrelation had little effect on the observed trends. These results suggest that habitat selection in grizzly bears are partly learned from their mothers, which could have implications for the translocation of wildlife to novel environments.

生境选择（Habitat selection）是一类被广泛研究的重要行为过程，其效应常体现在种群尺度层面。然而，现有生境选择模型的构建往往未纳入机制性考量。本研究以加拿大阿尔伯塔省（Alberta）的棕熊（Ursus arctos）种群为研究对象，旨在探究其生境选择模式究竟源于先天本能还是后天学习。研究结果显示：秋季时雌性棕熊的生境选择与亲缘关系呈显著正相关，春季亦存在该趋势的苗头，但雄性棕熊在任一季节均未表现出此类关联。这一结果提示生境选择属于后天习得行为——由于雄性棕熊不参与育幼行为，若生境选择是由基因预先决定的本能行为，那么雌雄个体均应呈现出生境选择与亲缘关系的关联。个体间的地理距离与家域（home range）重叠度并未改变上述关联，这表明扩散过程与空间自相关（spatial autocorrelation）对本研究观测到的趋势影响极小。本研究结果表明，棕熊的生境选择部分源于对母代行为的学习，这一发现对于将野生动物引种至全新生境的保护实践具有重要参考意义。