Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden
Understanding a species' feeding ecology is essential for successful management and conservation, because food abundance can influence body mass, survival, reproductive success, movements, and habitat use. We describe annual and seasonal variations in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in sou...
Published in: | Wildlife Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.00194 |
id |
crwiley:10.2981/wlb.00194 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.2981/wlb.00194 2024-09-09T18:56:36+00:00 Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden Stenset, Nina Emilie Lutnæs, Paul Nilsen Bjarnadóttir, ValgerÐur Dahle, Bj⊘rn Fossum, Kristin H⊘ivik Jigsved, Patrik Johansen, Thomas Neumann, Wiebke Opseth, Ole R⊘nning, Oddmund Steyaert, Sam M. J. G. Zedrosser, Andreas Brunberg, Sven Swenson, Jon E. Naturvårdsverket Miljødirektoratet Svenska Jägareförbundet Norges Forskningsråd 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.00194 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Wildlife Biology volume 22, issue 3, page 107-116 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X journal-article 2016 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00194 2024-08-01T04:23:17Z Understanding a species' feeding ecology is essential for successful management and conservation, because food abundance can influence body mass, survival, reproductive success, movements, and habitat use. We describe annual and seasonal variations in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in southcentral Sweden, based on analysis of 527 fecal samples from 1994–1996 and 2000–2001. There was distinct seasonal variation in most of the 26 food items we documented. Ungulates, predominantly moose Alces alces , and insects comprised most of the estimated dietary energy content in spring and summer. Insects were represented almost entirely by ants, of which Formica spp. and Camponotus herculeanus were the most common. During autumn, berries dominated the diet. The most important berry species were bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus , crowberry Empetrum hermaphoditum and lingonberry V. vitis‐idaea . We determined berry availability by inventorying 308 random plots three times for two consecutive years. These three berries occurred with great spatial, seasonal and annual variation in abundance. The bears showed the strongest positive preference for bilberries, a lesser positive preference for crowberries, but no preference for lingonberries. The proportion of berries in the autmn diet was stable between years, but the relative importance of the species changed, indicating that bears switched to crowberries when bilberries were less abundant. The effects of predicted future climatic change might have severe effects on the availability of the berries, which is the only important food available for fat acquisition prior to hibernation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Crowberry Ursus arctos Wiley Online Library Wildlife Biology 22 3 107 116 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Understanding a species' feeding ecology is essential for successful management and conservation, because food abundance can influence body mass, survival, reproductive success, movements, and habitat use. We describe annual and seasonal variations in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in southcentral Sweden, based on analysis of 527 fecal samples from 1994–1996 and 2000–2001. There was distinct seasonal variation in most of the 26 food items we documented. Ungulates, predominantly moose Alces alces , and insects comprised most of the estimated dietary energy content in spring and summer. Insects were represented almost entirely by ants, of which Formica spp. and Camponotus herculeanus were the most common. During autumn, berries dominated the diet. The most important berry species were bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus , crowberry Empetrum hermaphoditum and lingonberry V. vitis‐idaea . We determined berry availability by inventorying 308 random plots three times for two consecutive years. These three berries occurred with great spatial, seasonal and annual variation in abundance. The bears showed the strongest positive preference for bilberries, a lesser positive preference for crowberries, but no preference for lingonberries. The proportion of berries in the autmn diet was stable between years, but the relative importance of the species changed, indicating that bears switched to crowberries when bilberries were less abundant. The effects of predicted future climatic change might have severe effects on the availability of the berries, which is the only important food available for fat acquisition prior to hibernation. |
author2 |
Naturvårdsverket Miljødirektoratet Svenska Jägareförbundet Norges Forskningsråd |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stenset, Nina Emilie Lutnæs, Paul Nilsen Bjarnadóttir, ValgerÐur Dahle, Bj⊘rn Fossum, Kristin H⊘ivik Jigsved, Patrik Johansen, Thomas Neumann, Wiebke Opseth, Ole R⊘nning, Oddmund Steyaert, Sam M. J. G. Zedrosser, Andreas Brunberg, Sven Swenson, Jon E. |
spellingShingle |
Stenset, Nina Emilie Lutnæs, Paul Nilsen Bjarnadóttir, ValgerÐur Dahle, Bj⊘rn Fossum, Kristin H⊘ivik Jigsved, Patrik Johansen, Thomas Neumann, Wiebke Opseth, Ole R⊘nning, Oddmund Steyaert, Sam M. J. G. Zedrosser, Andreas Brunberg, Sven Swenson, Jon E. Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
author_facet |
Stenset, Nina Emilie Lutnæs, Paul Nilsen Bjarnadóttir, ValgerÐur Dahle, Bj⊘rn Fossum, Kristin H⊘ivik Jigsved, Patrik Johansen, Thomas Neumann, Wiebke Opseth, Ole R⊘nning, Oddmund Steyaert, Sam M. J. G. Zedrosser, Andreas Brunberg, Sven Swenson, Jon E. |
author_sort |
Stenset, Nina Emilie |
title |
Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
title_short |
Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
title_full |
Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral Sweden |
title_sort |
seasonal and annual variation in the diet of brown bears ursus arctos in the boreal forest of southcentral sweden |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.00194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.00194 |
genre |
Alces alces Crowberry Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Crowberry Ursus arctos |
op_source |
Wildlife Biology volume 22, issue 3, page 107-116 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00194 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
107 |
op_container_end_page |
116 |
_version_ |
1809818457207734272 |