Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard
It is well known that polar bears feed on vegetation. Here, I report novel observations of polar bears grazing on polar scurvy grass (Cochlearia groenlandica) at the foot of a large seabird colony on a cliff on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the summers of 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2015. Why they choose...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
2017
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/article/98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b 2023-05-15T15:55:44+02:00 Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard Lech Stempniewicz 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/article/98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b EN eng Norwegian Polar Institute http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/article/98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b Polar Research, Vol 36, Iss 1 (2017) Carnivores feeding on vegetation Ursus maritimus diet Cochlearia groenlandica Svalbard Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 2022-12-31T11:46:00Z It is well known that polar bears feed on vegetation. Here, I report novel observations of polar bears grazing on polar scurvy grass (Cochlearia groenlandica) at the foot of a large seabird colony on a cliff on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the summers of 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2015. Why they choose such energy-costly climbing to feed on plants is not clear. One possibility is that they may be suffering from vitamin C deficiency and are searching for this particular plant, which has a high level of this vitamin. Another, but not exclusive reason, is that vegetation containing scurvy grass is abundant enough to be efficiently grazed by such unspecialized plant-eaters as polar bears only on such relatively inaccessible, steep slopes below seabird colonies. Most of the lowland and gently sloping tundra areas in Svalbard are overgrazed by geese and reindeer, the populations of which have increased considerably as a consequence of climate amelioration. Large seabird colonies are known to attract animals from different trophic levels, but this is the first description of their attractiveness to polar bears as grazing areas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Cochlearia groenlandica Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Ursus maritimus Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Svalbard Polar Research 36 1 1326453 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Carnivores feeding on vegetation Ursus maritimus diet Cochlearia groenlandica Svalbard Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Carnivores feeding on vegetation Ursus maritimus diet Cochlearia groenlandica Svalbard Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 Lech Stempniewicz Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
topic_facet |
Carnivores feeding on vegetation Ursus maritimus diet Cochlearia groenlandica Svalbard Environmental sciences GE1-350 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
It is well known that polar bears feed on vegetation. Here, I report novel observations of polar bears grazing on polar scurvy grass (Cochlearia groenlandica) at the foot of a large seabird colony on a cliff on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in the summers of 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2015. Why they choose such energy-costly climbing to feed on plants is not clear. One possibility is that they may be suffering from vitamin C deficiency and are searching for this particular plant, which has a high level of this vitamin. Another, but not exclusive reason, is that vegetation containing scurvy grass is abundant enough to be efficiently grazed by such unspecialized plant-eaters as polar bears only on such relatively inaccessible, steep slopes below seabird colonies. Most of the lowland and gently sloping tundra areas in Svalbard are overgrazed by geese and reindeer, the populations of which have increased considerably as a consequence of climate amelioration. Large seabird colonies are known to attract animals from different trophic levels, but this is the first description of their attractiveness to polar bears as grazing areas. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lech Stempniewicz |
author_facet |
Lech Stempniewicz |
author_sort |
Lech Stempniewicz |
title |
Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
title_short |
Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
title_full |
Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
title_fullStr |
Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
title_full_unstemmed |
Polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in Svalbard |
title_sort |
polar bears observed climbing steep slopes to graze on scurvy grass in svalbard |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/article/98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b |
geographic |
Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard |
genre |
Cochlearia groenlandica Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Ursus maritimus Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Cochlearia groenlandica Polar Research Svalbard Tundra Ursus maritimus Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Polar Research, Vol 36, Iss 1 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-8369 1751-8369 doi:10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 https://doaj.org/article/98b75ab220044f608b880b124832351b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2017.1326453 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
36 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1326453 |
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1766391218936217600 |