The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon
We quantified foraging behavior of brown bears (Ursus arctos) feeding on adult chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) at three small coastal streams in southeastern Alaska from streamside tree stands. These observations revealed that social dominance was much more importan...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-226 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-226 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z03-226 2024-04-28T08:35:08+00:00 The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon Gende, S M Quinn, T P 2004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-226 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-226 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 82, issue 1, page 75-85 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2004 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z03-226 2024-04-09T06:56:30Z We quantified foraging behavior of brown bears (Ursus arctos) feeding on adult chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) at three small coastal streams in southeastern Alaska from streamside tree stands. These observations revealed that social dominance was much more important in determining intake rates among bears than salmon densities. Each small stream supported one large, socially dominant bear that directly displaced other bears in aggressive encounters or was avoided in "passive deferrals". Although the number of fish killed per foraging bout was positively correlated with salmon density, energy intake was determined primarily by foraging effort, as dominant bears visited the stream more often and foraged for longer periods than subdominant bears. Capture efficiency (fish captured per minute searching) was highly variable and increased only marginally with salmon density and among social ranks. Subdominant bears were more vigilant, used a smaller fraction of each stream, and carried salmon much farther into the forest prior to consumption, presumably to minimize interactions with other bears. Social dominance may play an important role in regulating reproductive success when salmon densities are low and may have important implications for managers in bear-viewing areas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Ursus arctos Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 82 1 75 85 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Gende, S M Quinn, T P The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
We quantified foraging behavior of brown bears (Ursus arctos) feeding on adult chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) at three small coastal streams in southeastern Alaska from streamside tree stands. These observations revealed that social dominance was much more important in determining intake rates among bears than salmon densities. Each small stream supported one large, socially dominant bear that directly displaced other bears in aggressive encounters or was avoided in "passive deferrals". Although the number of fish killed per foraging bout was positively correlated with salmon density, energy intake was determined primarily by foraging effort, as dominant bears visited the stream more often and foraged for longer periods than subdominant bears. Capture efficiency (fish captured per minute searching) was highly variable and increased only marginally with salmon density and among social ranks. Subdominant bears were more vigilant, used a smaller fraction of each stream, and carried salmon much farther into the forest prior to consumption, presumably to minimize interactions with other bears. Social dominance may play an important role in regulating reproductive success when salmon densities are low and may have important implications for managers in bear-viewing areas. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gende, S M Quinn, T P |
author_facet |
Gende, S M Quinn, T P |
author_sort |
Gende, S M |
title |
The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
title_short |
The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
title_full |
The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
title_fullStr |
The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
title_full_unstemmed |
The relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on Pacific salmon |
title_sort |
relative importance of prey density and social dominance in determining energy intake by bears feeding on pacific salmon |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z03-226 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z03-226 |
genre |
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Ursus arctos Alaska |
genre_facet |
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Pink salmon Ursus arctos Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 82, issue 1, page 75-85 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z03-226 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
82 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
75 |
op_container_end_page |
85 |
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1797567276259475456 |