Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs
Climate-mediated sea-ice loss is disrupting the foraging ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) across much of their range. As a result, there have been increased reports of polar bears foraging on seabird eggs across parts of their range. Given that polar bears have evolved to hunt seals on ice,...
Published in: | Royal Society Open Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Scholarship at UWindsor
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/23 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 |
id |
ftunivwindsor:oai:scholar.uwindsor.ca:ibiopub-1022 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivwindsor:oai:scholar.uwindsor.ca:ibiopub-1022 2023-06-11T04:10:59+02:00 Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs Jagielski, Patrick M. Dey, Cody J. Gilchrist, H. Grant Richardson, Evan S. Love, Oliver P. Semeniuk, Christina A.D. 2021-04-01T07:00:00Z https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/23 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 unknown Scholarship at UWindsor https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/23 doi:10.1098/rsos.210391 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 Integrative Biology Publications alternative food resources common eiders foraging performance optimal foraging theory polar bears seabird eggs text 2021 ftunivwindsor https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 2023-05-06T19:11:20Z Climate-mediated sea-ice loss is disrupting the foraging ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) across much of their range. As a result, there have been increased reports of polar bears foraging on seabird eggs across parts of their range. Given that polar bears have evolved to hunt seals on ice, they may not be efficient predators of seabird eggs. We investigated polar bears' foraging performance on common eider (Somateria mollissima) eggs on Mitivik Island, Nunavut, Canada to test whether bear decision-making heuristics are consistent with expectations of optimal foraging theory. Using aerial-drones, we recorded multiple foraging bouts over 11 days, and found that as clutches were depleted to completion, bears did not exhibit foraging behaviours matched to resource density. As the season progressed, bears visited fewer nests overall, but marginally increased their visitation to nests that were already empty. Bears did not display different movement modes related to nest density, but became less selective in their choice of clutches to consume. Lastly, bears that capitalized on visual cues of flushing eider hens significantly increased the number of clutches they consumed; however, they did not use this strategy consistently or universally. The foraging behaviours exhibited by polar bears in this study suggest they are inefficient predators of seabird eggs, particularly in the context of matching behaviours to resource density. Text Common Eider Nunavut Sea ice Somateria mollissima Ursus maritimus University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor Nunavut Canada Royal Society Open Science 8 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Windsor, Ontario: Scholarship at UWindsor |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwindsor |
language |
unknown |
topic |
alternative food resources common eiders foraging performance optimal foraging theory polar bears seabird eggs |
spellingShingle |
alternative food resources common eiders foraging performance optimal foraging theory polar bears seabird eggs Jagielski, Patrick M. Dey, Cody J. Gilchrist, H. Grant Richardson, Evan S. Love, Oliver P. Semeniuk, Christina A.D. Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
topic_facet |
alternative food resources common eiders foraging performance optimal foraging theory polar bears seabird eggs |
description |
Climate-mediated sea-ice loss is disrupting the foraging ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) across much of their range. As a result, there have been increased reports of polar bears foraging on seabird eggs across parts of their range. Given that polar bears have evolved to hunt seals on ice, they may not be efficient predators of seabird eggs. We investigated polar bears' foraging performance on common eider (Somateria mollissima) eggs on Mitivik Island, Nunavut, Canada to test whether bear decision-making heuristics are consistent with expectations of optimal foraging theory. Using aerial-drones, we recorded multiple foraging bouts over 11 days, and found that as clutches were depleted to completion, bears did not exhibit foraging behaviours matched to resource density. As the season progressed, bears visited fewer nests overall, but marginally increased their visitation to nests that were already empty. Bears did not display different movement modes related to nest density, but became less selective in their choice of clutches to consume. Lastly, bears that capitalized on visual cues of flushing eider hens significantly increased the number of clutches they consumed; however, they did not use this strategy consistently or universally. The foraging behaviours exhibited by polar bears in this study suggest they are inefficient predators of seabird eggs, particularly in the context of matching behaviours to resource density. |
format |
Text |
author |
Jagielski, Patrick M. Dey, Cody J. Gilchrist, H. Grant Richardson, Evan S. Love, Oliver P. Semeniuk, Christina A.D. |
author_facet |
Jagielski, Patrick M. Dey, Cody J. Gilchrist, H. Grant Richardson, Evan S. Love, Oliver P. Semeniuk, Christina A.D. |
author_sort |
Jagielski, Patrick M. |
title |
Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
title_short |
Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
title_full |
Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
title_fullStr |
Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
title_sort |
polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs |
publisher |
Scholarship at UWindsor |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/23 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 |
geographic |
Nunavut Canada |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut Canada |
genre |
Common Eider Nunavut Sea ice Somateria mollissima Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Common Eider Nunavut Sea ice Somateria mollissima Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
Integrative Biology Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/23 doi:10.1098/rsos.210391 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210391 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
4 |
_version_ |
1768385770773544960 |