Frank T van Manen, Ph.D.
Biography
Education
Ph.D. 1994. Ecology and Statistics. University of Tennessee
B.S. and M.S. 1989. Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands
Research Interests
Frank van Manen is an ecologist who blends his research interest in large carnivores with landscape ecology. In 2012 Frank became Team Leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, a cooperative research team that addresses monitoring and research needs for the Greater Yellowstone grizzly bear population. His research focus for the past 25 years has been on bear ecology and management. Prior to his current research on Yellowstone grizzly bears, he conducted numerous studies on American black bears in the southeastern U.S. He has also collaborated on field studies with bear researchers in Ecuador (Andean bear), Sri Lanka (sloth bear), and China (giant panda).
Frank served as Treasurer and then President of the International Association for Bear Research and Management from 2001 through 2013 and is an Associate Editor for the Journal Ursus. He has adjunct appointments with Montana State University and the University of Tennessee.
Frank was born in Arnhem, The Netherlands and earned a combined B.S. and M.S. degree from Wageningen University. After an internship at the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, he entered the doctoral program at University of Tennessee with a major in Ecology and a minor in Statistics.
Formerly, Frank spent 12 years with the USGS Leetown Science Center specializing in (1) responses of mammals to landscape changes; (2) management of large carnivores; (3) international bear conservation; and (4) habitat models to support protection and restoration of plants and trees.
For available articles, click on the Publications tab.
Science and Products
Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) is an interdisciplinary group of scientists and biologists responsible for long-term monitoring and research efforts on grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The team was formed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 1973 as a direct result of controversy...
NOROCK Large Carnivore Research Program
NOROCK has substantial expertise in large carnivore research, primarily involving species listed as Threatened or Endangered. NOROCK’s Large Carnivore Research Program includes scientists from NOROCK’s Headquarters, West Glacier Field Station, and the Southern Appalachian Field Station. Studies are conducted in a wide variety of landscapes throughout the U.S., as well as international...
IGBST Grizzly Bear Food Synthesis Report
How to Cite: Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. 2013. Response of Yellowstone grizzly bears to changes in food resources: a synthesis. Report to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee and Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee. Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Bozeman, Montana, USA.
An evaluation of noninvasive sampling techniques for Malayan sun bears
Traditional mark–recapture studies to estimate abundance and trends of Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) populations are impeded by logistics of live-trapping wild individuals. The development of noninvasive sampling techniques for monitoring sun bear populations is therefore crucial for targeted conservation action. Sun bears have short fur...
Tee, Thye Lim; Lai, Wai Ling; Ju Wei, Terence Kok; Shern, Ooi Zhuan; van Manen, Frank T.; Sharp, Stuart P.; Wong, Siew Te; Chew, Jactty; Ratnayeke, Shyamala Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; North America)
This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Haroldson, Mark A.; Clapham, Melanie; Costello, Cecily M.; Gunther, Kerry A.; Kendall, Kate; Miller, Sterling; Pigeon, Karine; Proctor, Michael F.; Rode, Karyn D.; Servheen, Christopher; Stenhouse, Gordon; van Manen, Frank T. Ecological and social dimensions of sloth bear conservation in Sri Lanka
Balancing the needs of humans and wildlife in Sri Lanka presents enormous socioeconomic and conservation challenges. Sloth bears are legally protected, but attacks on humans generate intense fear, which increases the potential for human-caused bear mortality and local extirpation of bears. In this chapter, what is known about the ecology and human...
Ratnayeke, Shyamala; van Manen, Frank T. Yellowstone Grizzly Bear investigations 2019 - Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team
No abstract available.
van Manen, Frank T.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Karabensh, Bryn Primarily resident grizzly bears respond to late-season elk harvest
Autumn ungulate hunting in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem carries the risk of hunter–grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) conflict and creates a substantial challenge for managers. For Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, a key information need is whether increased availability of elk (Cervus canadensis) carcasses during a late autumn (Nov–Dec)...
van Manen, Frank T.; Ebinger, Michael R.; Gustine, David D.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Wilmot, Katharine R.; Whitman, Craig Yellowstone Grizzly Bear investigations: Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2018
This annual report summarizes the results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) research and monitoring conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2018. The research and monitoring program is focused on population estimation and demographics, food monitoring, and habitat monitoring. The...
van Manen, Frank T.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Karabensh, Bryn Grizzly bear depredation on grazing allotments in the Yellowstone ecosystem
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) conflicts with humans, including livestock depredation on public land grazing allotments, have increased during the last several decades within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in the western United States as the grizzly bear population has grown in number and occupied range. Minimizing conflicts and improving...
Wells, Smith L.; McNew, Lance B.; Tyers, Daniel B.; van Manen, Frank T.; Thompson, Daniel J. Estimating distemper virus dynamics among wolves and grizzly bears using serology and Bayesian state‐space models
Many parasites infect multiple hosts, but estimating the transmission across host species remains a key challenge in disease ecology. We investigated the within and across host species dynamics of canine distemper virus (CDV) in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and wolves (Canis lupus) of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). We hypothesized that...
Cross, Paul C.; van Manen, Frank T.; Viana, Mafalda; Almberg, Emily S.; Bachen, Daniel; Brandell, Ellen E.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Hudson, Peter J.; Stahler, Daniel R.; Smith, Douglas W. Carnivore hotspots in Peninsular Malaysia and their landscape attributes
Mammalian carnivores play a vital role in ecosystem functioning. However, they are prone to extinction because of low population densities and growth rates, and high levels of persecution or exploitation. In tropical biodiversity hotspots such as Peninsular Malaysia, rapid conversion of natural habitats threatens the persistence of this vulnerable...
Ratnayeke, Shyamala; van Manen, Frank T.; Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben; Mohd Kulaimi, Noor Azleen; Sharp, Stuart P. Size‐assortative choice and mate availability influences hybridization between red wolves (Canis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans)
Anthropogenic hybridization of historically isolated taxa has become a primary conservation challenge for many imperiled species. Indeed, hybridization between red wolves (Canis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) poses a significant challenge to red wolf recovery. We considered seven hypotheses to assess factors influencing hybridization between...
Hinton, Joseph W.; Gittleman, John L.; van Manen, Frank T.; Chamberlain, Michael J. Potential paths for male-mediated gene flow to and from an isolated grizzly bear population
For several decades, grizzly bear populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) have increased in numbers and range extent. The GYE population remains isolated and although effective population size has increased since the early 1980s, genetic connectivity between these populations...
Peck, Christopher P.; van Manen, Frank T.; Costello, Cecily M.; Haroldson, Mark A.; Landenburger, Lisa; Roberts, Lori L.; Bjornlie, Daniel D.; Mace, Richard D. Yellowstone grizzly bears: Ecology and conservation of an icon of wildness
No abstract available.
White, P.J.; Gunther, Kerry A.; van Manen, Frank T.
Frank T. van Manen - Complete Publication List
Return of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear
From the journals of Lewis & Clark, April 13, 1805 (in the vicinity of Pouch Point Recreation Area - 16 miles south of New Town, North Dakota):