Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses
Scavenging, an underappreciated mechanism of prey consumption for many predators, can contribute substantially to nutritional intake. Facultative scavengers such as brown bears (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) may both kill and scavenge Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus Suckley, 1861), though the exte...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 2024-09-15T18:40:10+00:00 Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses Lincoln, A.E. Wirsing, A.J. Quinn, T.P. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 99, issue 1, page 9-17 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2021 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 2024-08-22T04:08:45Z Scavenging, an underappreciated mechanism of prey consumption for many predators, can contribute substantially to nutritional intake. Facultative scavengers such as brown bears (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) may both kill and scavenge Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus Suckley, 1861), though the extent of scavenging and factors affecting this behavior are unclear. We tagged 899 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum in Artedi, 1792)) carcasses and placed them on streambanks over 5 years at multiple sites in southwestern Alaska (USA) where brown bears annually prey on spawning sockeye salmon. Examination of carcasses revealed overall scavenging rates of 15% after 1 day and 54% after 3 days. Scavenging rate varied by site and year and increased throughout the salmon run. Contrary to predictions, scavenging was more frequent in senescent or bear-killed carcasses than ripe carcasses. Carcass consumption ranged from minimal to almost complete; body and brain tissues were most frequently consumed after 3 days (68% and 63% of carcasses, respectively). We also documented secondary scavenging (i.e., tissue consumption on two separate events) and delayed scavenging (i.e., scavenging observed after 3 days but not 1 day). Taken together, the results indicated that scavenging in these streams contributes significantly to total consumption of salmon by bears, with ramifications for other components of these salmon-dependent ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 99 1 9 17 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
description |
Scavenging, an underappreciated mechanism of prey consumption for many predators, can contribute substantially to nutritional intake. Facultative scavengers such as brown bears (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) may both kill and scavenge Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus Suckley, 1861), though the extent of scavenging and factors affecting this behavior are unclear. We tagged 899 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum in Artedi, 1792)) carcasses and placed them on streambanks over 5 years at multiple sites in southwestern Alaska (USA) where brown bears annually prey on spawning sockeye salmon. Examination of carcasses revealed overall scavenging rates of 15% after 1 day and 54% after 3 days. Scavenging rate varied by site and year and increased throughout the salmon run. Contrary to predictions, scavenging was more frequent in senescent or bear-killed carcasses than ripe carcasses. Carcass consumption ranged from minimal to almost complete; body and brain tissues were most frequently consumed after 3 days (68% and 63% of carcasses, respectively). We also documented secondary scavenging (i.e., tissue consumption on two separate events) and delayed scavenging (i.e., scavenging observed after 3 days but not 1 day). Taken together, the results indicated that scavenging in these streams contributes significantly to total consumption of salmon by bears, with ramifications for other components of these salmon-dependent ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lincoln, A.E. Wirsing, A.J. Quinn, T.P. |
spellingShingle |
Lincoln, A.E. Wirsing, A.J. Quinn, T.P. Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
author_facet |
Lincoln, A.E. Wirsing, A.J. Quinn, T.P. |
author_sort |
Lincoln, A.E. |
title |
Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
title_short |
Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
title_full |
Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
title_fullStr |
Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( Ursus arctos) on salmon ( Oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
title_sort |
prevalence and patterns of scavenging by brown bears ( ursus arctos) on salmon ( oncorhynchusspp.) carcasses |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 |
genre |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 99, issue 1, page 9-17 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0104 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
99 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
9 |
op_container_end_page |
17 |
_version_ |
1810484485630722048 |