High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern
Abstract Some animal species are responding to climate change by altering the timing of events like mating and migration. Such behavioral plasticity can be adaptive, but it is not always. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation have mostly remained on ice year‐roun...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/article/8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 2023-05-15T15:10:53+02:00 High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern Annie Kellner Todd C. Atwood David C. Douglas Stewart W. Breck George Wittemyer 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/article/8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/article/8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 Ecosphere, Vol 14, Iss 2, Pp n/a-n/a (2023) animal movement behavioral ecology climate change phenology sea ice time‐to‐event models Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 2023-03-05T01:35:18Z Abstract Some animal species are responding to climate change by altering the timing of events like mating and migration. Such behavioral plasticity can be adaptive, but it is not always. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation have mostly remained on ice year‐round, but as the climate warms and summer sea ice declines, a growing proportion of the subpopulation is summering ashore. The triggers of this novel behavior are not well understood. Our study uses a parametric time‐to‐event model to test whether biological and/or time‐varying environmental variables thought to influence polar bear movement and habitat selection also drive decisions to swim ashore. We quantified the time polar bears spent occupying offshore sea ice of varying ice concentrations. We evaluated variations in the ordinal date bears moved to land with respect to local environmental conditions such as sea ice concentration and wind across 10 years (2005–2015). Results from our study suggest that storm events (i.e., sustained high wind speeds) may force polar bears from severely degraded ice habitat and catalyze seasonal movements to land. Unlike polar bears long adapted to complete summer ice melt, southern Beaufort Sea bears that summer ashore appear more tolerant of poor‐quality sea ice habitat and are less willing to abandon it. Our findings provide a window into emergent, climatically mediated behavior in an Arctic marine mammal vulnerable to rapid habitat decline. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Beaufort Sea Climate change polar bear Sea ice Ursus maritimus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Ecosphere 14 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
animal movement behavioral ecology climate change phenology sea ice time‐to‐event models Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
animal movement behavioral ecology climate change phenology sea ice time‐to‐event models Ecology QH540-549.5 Annie Kellner Todd C. Atwood David C. Douglas Stewart W. Breck George Wittemyer High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
topic_facet |
animal movement behavioral ecology climate change phenology sea ice time‐to‐event models Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Some animal species are responding to climate change by altering the timing of events like mating and migration. Such behavioral plasticity can be adaptive, but it is not always. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation have mostly remained on ice year‐round, but as the climate warms and summer sea ice declines, a growing proportion of the subpopulation is summering ashore. The triggers of this novel behavior are not well understood. Our study uses a parametric time‐to‐event model to test whether biological and/or time‐varying environmental variables thought to influence polar bear movement and habitat selection also drive decisions to swim ashore. We quantified the time polar bears spent occupying offshore sea ice of varying ice concentrations. We evaluated variations in the ordinal date bears moved to land with respect to local environmental conditions such as sea ice concentration and wind across 10 years (2005–2015). Results from our study suggest that storm events (i.e., sustained high wind speeds) may force polar bears from severely degraded ice habitat and catalyze seasonal movements to land. Unlike polar bears long adapted to complete summer ice melt, southern Beaufort Sea bears that summer ashore appear more tolerant of poor‐quality sea ice habitat and are less willing to abandon it. Our findings provide a window into emergent, climatically mediated behavior in an Arctic marine mammal vulnerable to rapid habitat decline. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Annie Kellner Todd C. Atwood David C. Douglas Stewart W. Breck George Wittemyer |
author_facet |
Annie Kellner Todd C. Atwood David C. Douglas Stewart W. Breck George Wittemyer |
author_sort |
Annie Kellner |
title |
High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
title_short |
High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
title_full |
High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
title_fullStr |
High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
title_full_unstemmed |
High winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
title_sort |
high winds and melting sea ice trigger landward movement in a polar bear population of concern |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/article/8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Beaufort Sea Climate change polar bear Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Beaufort Sea Climate change polar bear Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
Ecosphere, Vol 14, Iss 2, Pp n/a-n/a (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/toc/2150-8925 2150-8925 doi:10.1002/ecs2.4420 https://doaj.org/article/8e847030a8d24a7c947b6349f6bd4651 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4420 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1766341813568798720 |