DOI: 10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb48
title: High habitat potential but limited connectivity for brown bears throughout Europe

description: Large carnivores worldwide have experienced substantial range contractions
 due to human activities. Using an ensemble species distribution model and
 occurrence data from all European brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations,
 we assessed current and potential bear habitat as well as habitat
 connectivity. Habitat suitability was strongly associated with low human
 development, high forest cover, and proximity to forest. Of our entire
 study area, 37% (4.09 million km2) is suitable for bears. Connectivity
 analyses identified corridors that could facilitate movement among
 southern European bear populations, though agriculture and human
 development limit connectivity between northern and southern European bear
 populations. Previous research estimated bears occupied 0.5 million km2
 across the European Union, while our results estimate 1.82 million km2 of
 this area is potentially suitable for bears, though connectivity is
 limited. Our results inform conservation strategies and policy development
 for the future of brown bears in Europe, emphasizing the need for
 transboundary conservation efforts. Raw species presence data are not
 publicly available as the subject species (European brown bear) is listed
 under Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC),
 which designates it as a species of community interest in need of strict
 protection. Article 12 of the directive prohibits deliberate disturbance,
 capture, or killing of individuals in the wild and includes protections
 for breeding sites and resting places. Presence data censored to a 10-km
 resolution are available from this repository, as is the code used to
 create the ensemble model.
description: # High habitat potential but limited connectivity for brown bears
 throughout Europe Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb48](10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb48) ## Description of the
 data and file structure We used brown bear data collected during 2000–2018
 from various research projects and monitoring programs. Data were compiled
 as part of the BearConnect initiative
 ([https://bearconnect.org](https://bearconnect.org)), and sourced from
 research groups, government agencies, and non-government organizations. We
 created a dataset of bear occurrences including all ten European bear
 populations and Turkey using telemetry locations, genetic samples, remote
 camera images, direct observations, and other confirmed evidence of
 presence. All records of bear occurrences were verified by the respective
 research groups and government agencies. ### Files and variables ####
 File: bearscript_revised.R **Description:** Script needed to run the
 species distribution model in R #### File: censored_10km.csv
 **Description:** Censored presence data for brown bears used for the
 model. The coordinates are presented in EPSG 3035. ##### Variables * FID:
 ID number of the presence location * Lon: Longitude * Lat: Latitude 
 
 The environmental raster stacks in this dataset are provided in the
 **`.grd`/`.gri`** **pair format** commonly produced by the
 **`raster`** or **`terra`** packages in R: * **`.grd`** – A small metadata
 file containing information about the raster stack (number of layers,
 layer names, spatial extent, resolution, data type, etc.). * **`.gri`** –
 The accompanying binary file that stores the actual raster cell values.
 The accompanying R script loads the correct raster stacks when the working
 directory is set to the folder containing both the **`.grd`**
 and **`.gri`** of the same name. #### How to use these files #### File:
 convex_stack.gri **Description:** Raster stack of environmental variables
 used in the model, clipped to the convex hull used for the species
 distribution model #### File: fullarea_stack.gri **Description:** Raster
 stack of environmental variables used in the model, for the entire study
 area the model was projected to.  #### File: convex_stack.grd
 **Description:**  Metadata for the raster stack of environmental variables
 used in the model, clipped to the convex hull used for the species
 distribution model #### File: fullarea_stack.grd **Description:** Metadata
 for the raster stack of environmental variables used in the model, for the
 entire study area the model was projected to.  ## Code/software The
 species distribution model was created in R. Software packages necessary
 to run the analysis code are provided within the code script. ## Access
 information Data was derived from the following sources: * Environmental
 covariates were derived from Copernicus Global Land Service (100-m
 resolution),\
 see [https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products](https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products)