Preliminary data from polar bear hair samples assayed for cortisol and collected in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas, Alaska, 1983-1989, 2004-2006, and 2008-2016

• Main Author: Durner, George
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Axiom Data Science 2021
• Subjects: Chukchi Sea; Beaufort Sea; Chukchi; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24431/rw1k5ae; https://search.dataone.org/#view/10.24431/rw1k5ae

In this study, the stress hormone cortisol was used to identify physiological linkages between polar bear health and the environment in the Beaufort Sea (BS) and Chukchi (CS) seas. The Southern Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea subpopulations are intensively studied and their responses to sea ice declines are highly divergent. We measured cortisol from a rich collection of SB and CS hair samples from bears captured between 1983-2016. We related cortisol concentrations to demographic parameters, body condition, region, and sea ice conditions during the time of fur growth from May-September, the period that polar bears are likely impacted by climate change and sea ice declines. The breadth of our samples provided a 34 year view of the role of diminishing sea ice, reproductive status, and region on the health of SB and CS polar bears. We measured cortisol from a rich collections of SB and CS hair samples from bears captured 1983-2016.We will relate cortisol concentrations to demographic parameters, body condition, region, and sea ice conditions during the time of fur growth of May-September, the period that polar bears are likely impacted by climate change sea ice declines. The data collected in this study were created in Microsoft Excel before converting to the csv format provided here. Original data were edited with Program R to remove records of which cortisol values could not be derived and to assign reproductive status to each polar bear record.