Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears
Selective consumption of prey by predators, observed in many animals, is often attributed to optimal foraging. Consistent with this idea, brown bears (Ursus arctos) often exhibit partial consumption, feeding exclusively on lipid-rich tissues of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and discarding rema...
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ftdryad:oai:v1.datadryad.org:10255/dryad.193321 2023-05-15T18:42:11+02:00 Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears Lincoln, Alexandra E. Quinn, Thomas P. Southwestern Alaska 2018-09-25T15:00:57Z http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.193321 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 unknown doi:10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56/1 doi:10.1093/beheco/ary139 doi:10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 Lincoln AE, Quinn TP (2019) Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears. Behavioral Ecology. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.193321 optimal foraging surplus killing brown bear prey selection Article 2018 ftdryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56/1 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary139 2020-01-01T16:16:23Z Selective consumption of prey by predators, observed in many animals, is often attributed to optimal foraging. Consistent with this idea, brown bears (Ursus arctos) often exhibit partial consumption, feeding exclusively on lipid-rich tissues of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and discarding remains. However, bears also kill and abandon salmon without consuming any tissue. These discarded fish may be consistent with optimal foraging choices if they are of poor quality and if bears have easy access to better prey, or may reveal non-adaptive surplus killing behavior if fish are killed and discarded at random or solely based on prey abundance. Using 21 consecutive years of data from sockeye salmon (O. nerka) carcass surveys in Alaska, we found that foraging to maximize energy intake best explained prey discarding behavior. Specifically, discarding was more common under high prey abundance, late in the salmon run, and with low quality prey. Patterns of tissue consumption were consistent with these findings; bears were less likely to consume belly, body, and brain tissue when prey condition decreased. Other factors not quantified here (e.g., bear demography, alternative food resources) almost certainly influence prey discard and partial consumption, though the salmon-related factors explored here strongly influenced bear foraging decisions that were consistent with optimal foraging theory. We did not find clear evidence of surplus killing behavior in brown bears foraging on salmon, but prey selectivity manifested itself through both discarding and partial consumption, which contributes to our ability to predict transport of salmon nutrients by bears across ecosystem boundaries. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Alaska Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) Pacific Sockeye ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) |
op_collection_id |
ftdryad |
language |
unknown |
topic |
optimal foraging surplus killing brown bear prey selection |
spellingShingle |
optimal foraging surplus killing brown bear prey selection Lincoln, Alexandra E. Quinn, Thomas P. Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
topic_facet |
optimal foraging surplus killing brown bear prey selection |
description |
Selective consumption of prey by predators, observed in many animals, is often attributed to optimal foraging. Consistent with this idea, brown bears (Ursus arctos) often exhibit partial consumption, feeding exclusively on lipid-rich tissues of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and discarding remains. However, bears also kill and abandon salmon without consuming any tissue. These discarded fish may be consistent with optimal foraging choices if they are of poor quality and if bears have easy access to better prey, or may reveal non-adaptive surplus killing behavior if fish are killed and discarded at random or solely based on prey abundance. Using 21 consecutive years of data from sockeye salmon (O. nerka) carcass surveys in Alaska, we found that foraging to maximize energy intake best explained prey discarding behavior. Specifically, discarding was more common under high prey abundance, late in the salmon run, and with low quality prey. Patterns of tissue consumption were consistent with these findings; bears were less likely to consume belly, body, and brain tissue when prey condition decreased. Other factors not quantified here (e.g., bear demography, alternative food resources) almost certainly influence prey discard and partial consumption, though the salmon-related factors explored here strongly influenced bear foraging decisions that were consistent with optimal foraging theory. We did not find clear evidence of surplus killing behavior in brown bears foraging on salmon, but prey selectivity manifested itself through both discarding and partial consumption, which contributes to our ability to predict transport of salmon nutrients by bears across ecosystem boundaries. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lincoln, Alexandra E. Quinn, Thomas P. |
author_facet |
Lincoln, Alexandra E. Quinn, Thomas P. |
author_sort |
Lincoln, Alexandra E. |
title |
Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
title_short |
Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
title_full |
Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
title_fullStr |
Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data from: Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
title_sort |
data from: optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.193321 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 |
op_coverage |
Southwestern Alaska |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-130.143,-130.143,54.160,54.160) |
geographic |
Pacific Sockeye |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Sockeye |
genre |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
op_relation |
doi:10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56/1 doi:10.1093/beheco/ary139 doi:10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 Lincoln AE, Quinn TP (2019) Optimal foraging or surplus killing: selective consumption and discarding of salmon by brown bears. Behavioral Ecology. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.193321 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3fg5r56/1 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary139 |
_version_ |
1766231811069837312 |