Diet of the brown bear in Himalaya: combining classical and molecular genetic techniques ...

• Main Authors: Nawaz, Muhammad Ali, Valentini, Alice, Khan, Noor Kamal, Miquel, Christian, Taberlet, Pierre, Swenson, Jon E.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2019
• Subjects: Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sbcc2fr2c; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.sbcc2fr2c

The ecological requirements of brown bears are poorly known in the Himalaya region, which complicates conservation efforts. We documented the diet of the Himalayan brown bear ( Ursus arctos isabellinus ) by combining classical scat analysis and a newly developed molecular genetic technique (the trn L approach), in Deosai National Park, Pakistan. Brown bears consumed over 50 plant species, invertebrates, ungulates, and several rodents. Eight plant families; Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Cyperaceae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, Lamiaceae, and Rubiaceae were commonly eaten with graminoids comprising the bulk of the diet. Golden marmots comprised the major mammalian biomass in the park, and were also the main meat source for bears. Animal matter, making 36% of dietary content, contributed half of the digestible energy, due to its higher nutritious value. We did not find a significant temporal pattern in diet, perhaps because the availability of the major diet (graminoids) did not change over the foraging ...