scholarly journals Analyses on subpopulation abundance and annual number of maternal dens for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd C. Atwood ◽  
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin ◽  
Vijay P. Patil ◽  
George M. Durner ◽  
David C. Douglas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Fish And Wildlife Service ◽  
The U.S

Climate-associated drivers of plasma cytokines and contaminant concentrations in Beaufort Sea polar bears (Ursus maritimus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 745 ◽  
pp. 140978
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bourque ◽  
Jean-Pierre Desforges ◽  
Milton Levin ◽  
Todd C. Atwood ◽  
Christian Sonne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Plasma Cytokines

Summer refugia of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea

Polar Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 753-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodie D. Pongracz ◽  
Andrew E. Derocher
Keyword(s):  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears

PREVALENCE AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF AN ALOPECIA SYNDROME IN POLAR BEARS (URSUS MARITIMUS) OF THE SOUTHERN BEAUFORT SEA

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Atwood ◽  
Elizabeth Peacock ◽  
Kathy Burek-Huntington ◽  
Valerie Shearn-Bochsler ◽  
Barbara Bodenstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Spatio Temporal

scholarly journals Use of Subsistence-Harvested Whale Carcasses by Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea

ARCTIC ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate M. Lillie ◽  
Eric M. Gese ◽  
Todd C. Atwood ◽  
Mary M. Conner
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Open Population ◽  
Hair Samples ◽  
Northern Alaska

The availability of a food subsidy has the potential to influence the condition, behavior, fitness, and population dynamics of a species. Since the early 2000s, monitoring efforts along the coast of northern Alaska have indicated a higher proportion of polar bears (<i>Ursus maritimus</i>) of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation coming onshore to feed on subsistence-harvested bowhead whale (<i>Balaena mysticetus</i>) carcasses during the fall and early winter seasons. Concurrently, Indigenous communities annually hunt bowhead whale and deposit the unused remains at localized “bone piles,” creating the potential for human-bear interactions. Our objective was to determine the annual number of polar bears feeding at the bone pile near Kaktovik, Alaska. Using a hair snag surrounding the bone pile, we collected hair samples to identify individual bears via microsatellite genotypes during 2011 – 14. We used capture-mark-recapture data in the POPAN open-population model to estimate the number of bears visiting the bone pile. We estimated that as many as 72 (SE = 9) and 76 (SE = 10) male and female polar bears, respectively, used the bone pile located at Kaktovik, Alaska, in 2012, which represents approximately 16% of the SB polar bear subpopulation. It will be important to monitor the number of bears using the bone pile and subsequent human-bear interactions and conflicts along the northern coast of Alaska, if sea ice continues to recede.

Microsatellite DNA and mitochondrial DNA variation in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, Alaska

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 655-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Cronin ◽  
S.C. Amstrup ◽  
K.T. Scribner
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Microsatellite Dna ◽  
Chukchi Sea ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Dna Variation ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
Mtdna Haplotype

Radiotelemetry data have shown that polar bears ( Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774 ) occur in separate subpopulations in the Chukchi Sea and the southern Beaufort Sea. However, segregation is not absolute, and there is overlap of ranges of animals in each subpopulation. We used genetic variation at eight microsatellite DNA loci and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to further assess the degree of spatial structure of polar bears from the Chukchi and southern Beaufort seas. Microsatellite allele frequencies and mtDNA haplotype frequencies of bears from the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas did not differ significantly. Lack of differentiation at both maternally inherited mtDNA and bi-parentally inherited microsatellite loci suggests that gene flow between the two areas is mediated by both sexes. The genetic data indicate that polar bears in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas compose one interbreeding population. However, there is considerable fidelity to ranges in each area, particularly by adult females. The combined genetic and movement data suggest that polar bears could be managed as Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea subpopulations of a combined southern Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea population.

scholarly journals Genetic Variation, Relatedness, and Effective Population Size of Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska

2009 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 681-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Cronin ◽  
Steven C. Amstrup ◽  
Sandra L. Talbot ◽  
George K. Sage ◽  
Kristin S. Amstrup
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Effective Population Size ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Effective Population

scholarly journals Development of on‐shore behavior among polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) in the southern Beaufort Sea: inherited or learned?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
pp. 7790-7799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate M. Lillie ◽  
Eric M. Gese ◽  
Todd C. Atwood ◽  
Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Keyword(s):  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears

Space use patterns affect stable isotopes of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Beaufort Sea

Polar Biology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 1581-1593
Author(s):  
Nicole P. Boucher ◽  
Andrew E. Derocher ◽  
Evan S. Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Use Patterns

scholarly journals Observations of Habitat Use by Polar Bears, Ursus maritimus, in the Alaskan Beaufort, Chukchi, and Northern Bering Seas

2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Management Service ◽  
Aerial Surveys ◽  
Sea Coast

A total of 1112 Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) at 482 sightings were recorded during aerial surveys in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and northern Bering Seas conducted primarily during September and October from 1979-1999. Of these bears, 784 were observed offshore at 400 sightings. The surveys were conducted by the Naval Ocean Systems Center and Minerals Management Service; they were designed to monitor the fall Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) migration. Over the 20-year period, 1,096,620 kilometers of surveys were flown. The majority of the offshore Polar Bears, 595 bears at 290 sightings, and most of the kill sites and polar bear tracks were recorded in 80-100% ice cover. The number of bears per kilometer increased substantially in >24% ice cover, with the highest number observed in 80-100% ice cover. This habitat use probably is related to the availability of seals, their primary prey. There were 328 bears (83 sightings) recorded on land, and most of them were associated with whale carcasses and bowhead whale subsistence harvest sites along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea coast.

scholarly journals Iñupiaq Knowledge of Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska

ARCTIC ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-257
Author(s):  
Karyn D. Rode ◽  
Hannah Voorhees ◽  
Henry P. Huntington ◽  
George M. Durner
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Ice Breakup ◽  
Pack Ice

Successful wildlife management depends upon coordination and consultation with local communities. However, much of the research used to inform management is often derived solely from data collected directly from wildlife. Indigenous people living in the Arctic have a close connection to their environment, which provides unique opportunities to observe their environment and the ecology of Arctic species. Further, most northern Arctic communities occur within the range of polar bears (nanuq, Ursus maritimus) and have experienced significant climatic changes. Here, we used semi-structured interviews from 2017 to 2019 to document Iñupiaq knowledge of polar bears observed over four decades in four Alaskan communities in the range of the Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear subpopulation: Wainwright, Utqiaġvik, Nuiqsut, and Kaktovik. All but one of 47 participants described directional and notable changes in sea ice, including earlier ice breakup, later ice return, thinner ice, and less multiyear pack ice. These changes corresponded with observations of bears spending more time on land during the late summer and early fall in recent decades—observations consistent with scientific and Indigenous knowledge studies in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Participants noted that polar bear and seal body condition and local abundance either varied geographically or exhibited no patterns. However, participants described a recent phenomenon of bears being exhausted and lethargic when arriving on shore in the summer and fall after extensive swims from the pack ice. Further, several participants suggested that maternal denning is occurring more often on land than sea ice. Participants indicated that village and regional governments are increasingly challenged to obtain resources needed to keep their communities safe as polar bears spend more time on land, an issue that is likely to be exacerbated both in this region and elsewhere as sea ice loss continues. 

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