scholarly journals Seasonal movements of brown bears in the Middle Sikhote-Alin

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
И.В. СЕРЁДКИН
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Far East ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Young Male ◽  
Pinus Koraiensis ◽  
Sikhote Alin ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Seasonal Movements ◽  
Quercus Mongolica

Бурый медведь (Ursus arctos) на территории Дальнего Востока играет важную роль в экосистемах и имеет большое практическое значение для человека, являясь ценным объектом охоты. Важной экологической характеристикой популяции является использование пространства, включая сезонные перемещения особей. Оценивали сезонные перемещения 12 взрослых самцов, семи взрослых самок, одного молодого самца и одной молодой самки бурых медведей на Среднем Сихотэ-Алине в 1993–2011 гг. с помощью радио- и GPS-телеметрии. Для описания сезонных перемещений использовали линейную дистанцию между двумя локациями или сумму линейных смещений между последовательными локациями особей. Животных с целью мечения отлавливали лапозахватывающими ловушками Олдрича на лесных тропах и с использованием приманки; обездвиживали при помощи дистанционного инъектора с использованием анестезирующих препаратов. Значительные линейные смещения медведей наблюдали во все сезоны внеберложного периода, наибольшие из них достигали 111.5 км. Сезонные перемещения самцов были более выраженными по сравнению с таковыми самок. В постберложный период медведи совершали переходы от берлог к весенним кормовым стациям. В летний период переходы были связаны с пищевым и репродуктивным поведением. Осенью в период нажировки медведи активно перемещались в поисках нажировочных кормов – орехов сосны корейской (Pinus koraiensis) и желудей дуба монгольского (Quercus mongolica). В предберложный период медведи совершали переходы в места залегания в берлоги. Исследования, выполненные с помощью телеметрии, расширили знания экологии бурого медведя на Сихотэ-Алине, которые важны для научно обоснованного управления его популяцией. On the territory of the Far East, the brown bear (Ursus arctos) plays an important role in the ecosystems and, being valuable hunting species, has a great practical value for humans. The space use including the seasonal movements of specimens is an important ecological characteristic of population. The seasonal movements of 12 adult males, seven adult females, one young male and one young female of brown bears were evaluated in the Middle Sikhote-Alin in 1993–2011 with the use of radio- and GPS-telemetry. For description of seasonal movements, the linear distance between two locations or sum of linear displacements between the successive locations of specimens were used. With the purpose of marking, the animals were caught by the Aldrich foot snares on the forest trails and with the use of baits, immobilized using the remote injector and anesthetics. Significant linear movements of bears were observed in all seasons of the non-denning period and the largest of them reached 111.5 km. Seasonal movements of males were more pronounced than those of females. In the post-denning period, bears made passages from dens to spring feeding stations. In the summer season, the movements were related to feeding and reproductive behavior. In autumn, during the hyperphagia, the bears moved actively in search of fattening feed: Korean pine nuts (Pinus koraiensis) and Mongolian oak acorns (Quercus mongolica). In the pre-denning period, bears made passages to den places. The telemetry studies have broadened the knowledge of the brown bear ecology in the Sikhote-Alin, which is important to scientifically grounded management of its population.

scholarly journals Space Use by Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) in the Sikhote-Alin

2019 ◽  
pp. 366-384
Author(s):  
Ivan V. Seryodkin ◽  
Yuriy K. Kostyria ◽  
John M. Goodrich ◽  
Yuriy K. Petrunenko
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Sikhote Alin ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Wide Range

Proper management of brown bear populations (Ursus arctos) requires knowledge of their ecology, including space use. Brown bear spatial patterns are particularly poorly understood in the Russian Far East, due to lack of telemetry studies. The aim of this work was to study space use by brown bears in the Sikhote-Alin region. From 1993 to 2002, we used VHF radiocollars to collect spatial data from nine males (eight adults and one juvenile) and six females (five adults and one juvenile) in the Middle Sikhote-Alin. Fixed Kernel home range size estimates were larger for males (891.34 ± 346.99 km2) than for females (349.94 ± 543.06 km2). The juvenile home range sizes were 237.24 and 333.64 km2 for the male and female, respectively. The maximum home range size was for the two-year area of one male (9217.36 km2). The core area sizes varied over a wide range (6.12–358.45 km2). The structure and location of home ranges and their core areas depended upon the seasonal habitat selection of bears, as well as the distribution, abundance, and accessibility of foraging resources. Bears’ home ranges overlapped between males and females, as well as between same sex individuals. The results of this work are important for the management of the brown bear population in the Sikhote-Alin

scholarly journals Brown bear communication hubs: patterns and correlates of tree rubbing and pedal marking at a long-term marking site

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10447
Author(s):  
Eloy Revilla ◽  
Damián Ramos Fernández ◽  
Alberto Fernández-Gil ◽  
Agnieszka Sergiel ◽  
Nuria Selva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Communication Behaviors ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
A Site

Chemical communication is important for many species of mammals. Male brown bears, Ursus arctos, mark trees with a secretion from glands located on their back. The recent discovery of pedal glands and pedal-marking at a site used for tree-rubbing led us to hypothesize that both types of marking form part of a more complex communication system. We describe the patterns of chemical communication used by different age and sex classes, including differences in the roles of these classes as information providers or receivers over four years at a long-term marking site. Using video recordings from a camera trap, we registered a total of 285 bear-visits and 419 behavioral events associated with chemical communication. Bears visited the site more frequently during the mating season, during which communication behaviors were more frequent. A typical visit by male bears consisted of sniffing the depressions where animals pedal mark, performing pedal-marking, sniffing the tree, and, finally, rubbing against the trunk of the tree. Adult males performed most pedal- and tree-marking (95% and 66% of the cases, respectively). Males pedal-marked and tree-rubbed in 81% and 48% of their visits and sniffed the pedal marks and the tree in 23% and 59% of visits, respectively. Adult females never pedal marked, and juveniles did so at very low frequencies. Females rubbed against the tree in just 9% of their visits; they sniffed the tree and the pedal marks in 51% and 21% of their visits, respectively. All sex and age classes performed pedal- and tree-sniffing. There were significant associations between behaviors indicating that different behaviors tended to occur during the same visit and were more likely if another individual had recently visited. These associations leading to repeated marking of the site can promote the establishment of long-term marking sites. Marking sites defined by trees and the trails leading to them seem to act as communication hubs that brown bears use to share and obtain important information at population level.

scholarly journals The smell of success: Reproductive success related to rub behavior in brown bears

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0247964
Author(s):  
Andrea T. Morehouse ◽  
Anne E. Loosen ◽  
Tabitha A. Graves ◽  
Mark S. Boyce
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Parentage Analysis ◽  
Fitness Component ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Rubbing Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Several species of bears are known to rub deliberately against trees and other objects, but little is known about why bears rub. Patterns in rubbing behavior of male and female brown bears (Ursus arctos) suggest that scent marking via rubbing functions to communicate among potential mates or competitors. Using DNA from bear hairs collected from rub objects in southwestern Alberta from 2011–2014 and existing DNA datasets from Montana and southeastern British Columbia, we determined sex and individual identity of each bear detected. Using these data, we completed a parentage analysis. From the parentage analysis and detection data, we determined the number of offspring, mates, unique rub objects where an individual was detected, and sampling occasions during which an individual was detected for each brown bear identified through our sampling methods. Using a Poisson regression, we found a positive relationship between bear rubbing behavior and reproductive success; both male and female bears with a greater number of mates and a greater number of offspring were detected at more rub objects and during more occasions. Our results suggest a fitness component to bear rubbing, indicate that rubbing is adaptive, and provide insight into a poorly understood behaviour.

scholarly journals Heart rate during hyperphagia differs between two bear species

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 20180681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Fuchs ◽  
Koji Yamazaki ◽  
Alina L. Evans ◽  
Toshio Tsubota ◽  
Shinsuke Koike ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Black Bear ◽  
Black Bears ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Fat Reserves ◽  
Generalized Additive Mixed Models ◽  
Additive Mixed Models ◽  
Increased Activity

Hyperphagia is a critical part of the yearly cycle of bears when they gain fat reserves before entering hibernation. We used heart rate as a proxy to compare the metabolic rate between the Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) in Japan and the Eurasian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) in Sweden from summer into hibernation. In the hyperphagic period, black bears feed on fat- and carbohydrate-rich hard masts whereas brown bears feed on sugar-rich berries. Availability of hard masts has quantitative and spatial annual fluctuations, which might require increased activity and result in intraspecific stress. Using generalized additive mixed models we analysed the differences in heart rate between the two species. Black bears had decreased heart rates during summer but had doubled heart rate values throughout the hyperphagic period compared to brown bears. This letter illustrates the different physiological consequences of seasonal differences in food availability in two species of the same genus dealing with the same phenological challenge.

scholarly journals Use of salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) by Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) in an Arctic, interior, montane environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew S. Sorum ◽  
Kyle Joly ◽  
Matthew D. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Brooks Range ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
Aerial Surveys

Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) is a key dietary item for temperate coastal Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) across much of their circumpolar range. Brown Bears living in Arctic, interior, and montane environments without large annual runs of salmon tend to be smaller bodied and occur at much lower densities than coastal populations. We conducted ground and aerial surveys to assess whether Brown Bears fished for salmon above the Arctic Circle, in and around Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Here, we document the use of salmon by interior Brown Bears in the Arctic mountains of the central Brooks Range of Alaska. We believe our findings could be important for understanding the breadth of the species’ diet across major biomes, as well as visitor safety in the park and Brown Bear conservation in the region.

Salmon consumption by Kodiak brown bears (Ursus arctos middendorffi) with ecosystem management implications

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.B. Van Daele ◽  
C.T. Robbins ◽  
B.X. Semmens ◽  
E.J. Ward ◽  
L.J. Van Daele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Total Mass ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Management Implications ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Commercial Harvest ◽  
Maximum Sustained Yield ◽  
Large Predators

The ecological role of large predators in North America continues to spark heated public debate. Although brown bears (Ursus arctos L., 1758) and the salmon (genus Oncorhynchus Suckley, 1861) they feed on have declined in many areas, the Kodiak archipelago is famous for large brown bears and abundant salmon. Salmon have generally been managed for maximum sustained yield in a fisheries sense, but those levels may be well below what is necessary for maximum ecosystem productivity. Consequently, we used stable isotopes and mercury accumulated in hair to estimate intake of salmon by Kodiak brown bears (Ursus arctos middendorffi Merriam, 1896). Salmon intake increased from subadult males (592 ± 325 kg·bear−1·year−1) to adult males (2788 ± 1929 kg·bear−1·year−1) and from subadult females (566 ± 360 kg·bear−1·year−1) to adult females (1364 ± 1261 kg·bear−1·year−1). Intake within each group increased 62% ± 23% as salmon escapement increased from ∼1 500 to ∼14 000 kg·bear−1·year−1. The estimated population of 2300 subadult and adult bears consumed 3.77 ± 0.16 million kg of salmon annually, a mass equal to ∼6% of the combined escapement and commercial harvest (57.6 million kg). Although bears consume a small portion of the total mass of adult salmon, perpetuation of dense populations of large bears requires ecosystem-based management of the meat resources and environments that produce such bears.

Brown bear habitat selection in relation to anthropogenic structures in the Bieszczady Mountains, Poland

Biologia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Witold Frąckowiak ◽  
Jörn Theuerkauf ◽  
Bartosz Pirga ◽  
Roman Gula
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Human Settlements ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Anthropogenic Structures ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractIn Europe, brown bear Ursus arctos habitats frequently overlap with human settlements and infrastructure. We tested whether anthropogenic structures played an important role in habitat selection by brown bears in the Bieszczady Mountains, Poland. We analysed 668 signs of brown bear presence recorded during 6 counts along 246 km of transects (total 1,476 km) in spring, summer and autumn of 1993 and 1994. Habitat selection of bears was more related to habitat and altitude than to human factors. Avoidance of roads, settlements and forest clearings influenced habitat selection by brown bears in spring but less in summer and autumn.

scholarly journals Human shields mediate sexual conflict in a top predator

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1833) ◽  
pp. 20160906 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. J. G. Steyaert ◽  
M. Leclerc ◽  
F. Pelletier ◽  
J. Kindberg ◽  
S. Brunberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Resource Selection ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Survival And Reproduction

Selecting the right habitat in a risky landscape is crucial for an individual's survival and reproduction. In predator–prey systems, prey often can anticipate the habitat use of their main predator and may use protective associates (i.e. typically an apex predator) as shields against predation. Although never tested, such mechanisms should also evolve in systems in which sexual conflict affects offspring survival. Here, we assessed the relationship between offspring survival and habitat selection, as well as the use of protective associates, in a system in which sexually selected infanticide (SSI), rather than interspecific predation, affects offspring survival. We used the Scandinavian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) population with SSI in a human-dominated landscape as our model system. Bears, especially adult males, generally avoid humans in our study system. We used resource selection functions to contrast habitat selection of GPS-collared mothers that were successful (i.e. surviving litters, n = 19) and unsuccessful (i.e. complete litter loss, n = 11) in keeping their young during the mating season (2005–2012). Habitat selection was indeed a predictor of litter survival. Successful mothers were more likely to use humans as protective associates, whereas unsuccessful mothers avoided humans. Our results suggest that principles of predator–prey and fear ecology theory (e.g. non-consumptive and cascading effects) can also be applied to the context of sexual conflict.

scholarly journals Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hüseyin Ambarlı ◽  
Deniz Mengüllüoğlu ◽  
Jörns Fickel ◽  
Daniel W. Förster
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Tissue Samples ◽  
Habitat Alterations ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Lesser Caucasus

Genetic studies of the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) have so far focused on populations from Europe and North America, although the largest distribution area of brown bears is in Asia. In this study, we reveal population genetic parameters for the brown bear population inhabiting the Grand Kaçkar Mountains (GKM) in the north east of Turkey, western Lesser Caucasus. Using both hair (N = 147) and tissue samples (N = 7) collected between 2008 and 2014, we found substantial levels of genetic variation (10 microsatellite loci). Bear samples (hair) taken from rubbing trees worked better for genotyping than those from power poles, regardless of the year collected. Genotyping also revealed that bears moved between habitat patches, despite ongoing massive habitat alterations and the creation of large water reservoirs. This population has the potential to serve as a genetic reserve for future reintroductions in the Middle East. Due to the importance of the GKM population for on-going and future conservation actions, the impacts of habitat alterations in the region ought to be minimized; e.g., by establishing green bridges or corridors over reservoirs and major roads to maintain habitat connectivity and gene flow among populations in the Lesser Caucasus.

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