Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada
American black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) are opportunistic foragers, and across most of their range in North America, their diet is predominantly vegetation with limited consumption of vertebrates and invertebrates. However, they are also predators of ungulates, especially neonates, with...
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2021
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 2024-10-13T14:01:04+00:00 Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada McLaren, A.A.D. Jamieson, S.E. Bond, M. Rodgers, A.R. Patterson, B.R. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 99, issue 8, page 721-728 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2021 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 2024-09-19T04:09:49Z American black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) are opportunistic foragers, and across most of their range in North America, their diet is predominantly vegetation with limited consumption of vertebrates and invertebrates. However, they are also predators of ungulates, especially neonates, with regional variation in the amount of predation pressure they exert. We used scat analysis to examine the diet of black bears during the calving season in a moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) – woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) system in the Boreal forest of northern Ontario, Canada. Bears consumed herbaceous plants (46.5%), fruits and (or) seeds (20.0%), moose (3.3% adults; 4.3% calves), American beaver (Castor canadensis Kuhl, 1820; 8.5%), and insects (mostly ants; 4.2%). Bears had the highest consumption of moose and beaver in early spring, before switching to a more vegetation-dominated diet. We did not detect evidence of caribou consumption. Based on our results, black bear consumption of moose, particularly neonates, may warrant further investigation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Rangifer tarandus Canadian Science Publishing Canada Canadian Journal of Zoology 99 8 721 728 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
American black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780) are opportunistic foragers, and across most of their range in North America, their diet is predominantly vegetation with limited consumption of vertebrates and invertebrates. However, they are also predators of ungulates, especially neonates, with regional variation in the amount of predation pressure they exert. We used scat analysis to examine the diet of black bears during the calving season in a moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) – woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) system in the Boreal forest of northern Ontario, Canada. Bears consumed herbaceous plants (46.5%), fruits and (or) seeds (20.0%), moose (3.3% adults; 4.3% calves), American beaver (Castor canadensis Kuhl, 1820; 8.5%), and insects (mostly ants; 4.2%). Bears had the highest consumption of moose and beaver in early spring, before switching to a more vegetation-dominated diet. We did not detect evidence of caribou consumption. Based on our results, black bear consumption of moose, particularly neonates, may warrant further investigation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McLaren, A.A.D. Jamieson, S.E. Bond, M. Rodgers, A.R. Patterson, B.R. |
spellingShingle |
McLaren, A.A.D. Jamieson, S.E. Bond, M. Rodgers, A.R. Patterson, B.R. Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
author_facet |
McLaren, A.A.D. Jamieson, S.E. Bond, M. Rodgers, A.R. Patterson, B.R. |
author_sort |
McLaren, A.A.D. |
title |
Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
title_short |
Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
title_full |
Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spring diet of American black bears ( Ursus americanus) in a moose ( Alces alces) – woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern Ontario, Canada |
title_sort |
spring diet of american black bears ( ursus americanus) in a moose ( alces alces) – woodland caribou ( rangifer tarandus caribou) system in northern ontario, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 99, issue 8, page 721-728 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2020-0263 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
99 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
721 |
op_container_end_page |
728 |
_version_ |
1812819566919680000 |