Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears
Climate change is resulting in decreased sea ice extent and increased industrial activity in Arctic regions. In northern Alaska, USA, sea ice loss has increased the frequency of land-based polar bear Ursus maritimus maternal dens, leading to greater potential for overlap between industrial activitie...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:cd6c9f5797f045bb941e64550f807ae6 2023-05-15T15:12:07+02:00 Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears SP Woodruff EM Andersen RR Wilson LS Mangipane SB Miller KJ Klein PR Lemons 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01203 https://doaj.org/article/cd6c9f5797f045bb941e64550f807ae6 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v49/p43-56/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01203 https://doaj.org/article/cd6c9f5797f045bb941e64550f807ae6 Endangered Species Research, Vol 49, Pp 43-56 (2022) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01203 2022-12-30T23:27:51Z Climate change is resulting in decreased sea ice extent and increased industrial activity in Arctic regions. In northern Alaska, USA, sea ice loss has increased the frequency of land-based polar bear Ursus maritimus maternal dens, leading to greater potential for overlap between industrial activities and denning bears. Responses of denning bears to human disturbance could result in costly reproductive outcomes, although observation of these responses is logistically challenging and expensive. We developed a method to standardize the process of classifying the response of denning polar bears to disturbance using decision rules based on polar bear biology and denning chronology. We applied this method to 46 maternal polar bear dens exposed to human activity (e.g. vehicle traffic, ground-based monitoring). Because the timing of disturbance influences the response and subsequent fitness consequences, we determined outcomes specific to 4 denning periods: (1) den establishment (excavation to cub birth); (2) early denning (cub birth to 60 d old); (3) late denning (60 d old to emergence); and (4) post-emergence (emergence to den site departure). We classified the outcomes of 79 exposures as 37 having ‘no documented effect’ (no observed response), 7 as ‘behavioral’ (observed behavioral disruption), 17 as ‘early emergence’ (den emergence occurring earlier than an undisturbed emergence), 14 as ‘early departure’ (den site abandonment post-emergence earlier than if undisturbed), and 4 as ‘cub mortality’ (death or abandonment of ≥1 cub). Outcomes with potential fitness consequences occurred in every denning period. Our classification method facilitated a standardized approach that can be used to classify the outcome of den disturbance. Determining outcomes in relation to a specific denning period may facilitate improved implementation of mitigation strategies to reduce disturbance to denning bears. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Sea ice Ursus maritimus Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Endangered Species Research 49 43 56 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 SP Woodruff EM Andersen RR Wilson LS Mangipane SB Miller KJ Klein PR Lemons Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
Climate change is resulting in decreased sea ice extent and increased industrial activity in Arctic regions. In northern Alaska, USA, sea ice loss has increased the frequency of land-based polar bear Ursus maritimus maternal dens, leading to greater potential for overlap between industrial activities and denning bears. Responses of denning bears to human disturbance could result in costly reproductive outcomes, although observation of these responses is logistically challenging and expensive. We developed a method to standardize the process of classifying the response of denning polar bears to disturbance using decision rules based on polar bear biology and denning chronology. We applied this method to 46 maternal polar bear dens exposed to human activity (e.g. vehicle traffic, ground-based monitoring). Because the timing of disturbance influences the response and subsequent fitness consequences, we determined outcomes specific to 4 denning periods: (1) den establishment (excavation to cub birth); (2) early denning (cub birth to 60 d old); (3) late denning (60 d old to emergence); and (4) post-emergence (emergence to den site departure). We classified the outcomes of 79 exposures as 37 having ‘no documented effect’ (no observed response), 7 as ‘behavioral’ (observed behavioral disruption), 17 as ‘early emergence’ (den emergence occurring earlier than an undisturbed emergence), 14 as ‘early departure’ (den site abandonment post-emergence earlier than if undisturbed), and 4 as ‘cub mortality’ (death or abandonment of ≥1 cub). Outcomes with potential fitness consequences occurred in every denning period. Our classification method facilitated a standardized approach that can be used to classify the outcome of den disturbance. Determining outcomes in relation to a specific denning period may facilitate improved implementation of mitigation strategies to reduce disturbance to denning bears. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
SP Woodruff EM Andersen RR Wilson LS Mangipane SB Miller KJ Klein PR Lemons |
author_facet |
SP Woodruff EM Andersen RR Wilson LS Mangipane SB Miller KJ Klein PR Lemons |
author_sort |
SP Woodruff |
title |
Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
title_short |
Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
title_full |
Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
title_fullStr |
Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
title_full_unstemmed |
Classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
title_sort |
classifying the effects of human disturbance on denning polar bears |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01203 https://doaj.org/article/cd6c9f5797f045bb941e64550f807ae6 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Sea ice Ursus maritimus Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Sea ice Ursus maritimus Alaska |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 49, Pp 43-56 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v49/p43-56/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr01203 https://doaj.org/article/cd6c9f5797f045bb941e64550f807ae6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01203 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
49 |
container_start_page |
43 |
op_container_end_page |
56 |
_version_ |
1766342846617485312 |