Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:32:59.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Habitat preferences of polar bears in the western Canadian Arctic in late winter and spring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Ian Stirling ,
Dennis Andriashek  and
Wendy Calvert
Ian Stirling
Affiliation:
Canadian Wildlife Service, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5, Canada
Dennis Andriashek
Affiliation:
Canadian Wildlife Service, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5, Canada
Wendy Calvert
Affiliation:
Canadian Wildlife Service, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between late March and May, from 1971 through 1979, we surveyed 74,332 km2 of sea-ice habitatin the eastern Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf in the western Canadian Arctic. We defined seven sea-ice habitat types and recorded sightings of polar bears and their tracks in each to determine their habitat preferences. 791 bears (including cubs) and 6454 sets of tracks were recorded. 42.3%, 39.7%, and 15.6% of the bears were seen on floe-edge, moving ice, and drifted fast-ice habitats, respectively. Significant differences in habitat preferences were shown by bears of different sexes and age classes. Adult females accompanied by cubs of the year were the only group that showed a strong preference for fast ice with drifts, probably because they could feed adequately there while avoiding adult males that might prey upon their cubs. The highest densities of seals are found in floe-edge and moving ice habitats and this likely explains the predominance of bears there. Lone adult females and females with two-year-old cubs, adult males, and subadult males were found two and one-half to four times more frequently than predicted in floe-edge habitat. Since there are no data to suggest seals are more abundant along the floe edge than in moving ice habitat, the preference of these groups of adult polar bears for the floe edge in spring may be related to reproductive behavior.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 29 , Issue 168 , January 1993 , pp. 13 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amslrup, S.C. 1986. Research on polar bears in Alaska, 1983–85. In: Amstrup, S.C., and Wiig, Ø. (editors). Proceedings of the Ninth Working Meeting of the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group, 9–11 August 1985, Edmonton, Alberta Gland, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 85–112.Google Scholar
Amstrup, S.C., and Gardner, C.. 1991. Research on polar bears in northern Alaska, 1985–1988. In: Amstrup, S.C., and Wiig, Ø (editors). Polarbears:proceedings of the Tenth Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, October 25–29, 1988, Sochi, USSR. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 43–53. (Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission 7.)Google Scholar
Belikov, S.E., and Gorbunov, Y.A.. 1991. Distribution and migrations of the polar bear in the Soviet Arctic in relation to ice conditions. In: Amstrup, S.C., and Wiig, Ø. (editors). Polarbears: proceedings of the Tenth Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, October 25–29, 1988, Sochi, USSR. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 70–74. (Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission 7.)Google Scholar
Buckley, J.R., Gammelsrad, T., Johannessen, J.A., Johannessen, O.M., and Røed, L.P.. 1979. Upwelling: oceanographic structure of the edge of the Arctic ice pack in winter. Science 203: 165–176CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conover, W.J. 1980. Practical nonparametric statistics. Second edition. New York: Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Cooper, P.F. Jr, 1974. Landfast ice in the southeastern part of the Beaufort Sea. In: Reed, J.C. and Sater, J.E. (editors). The coast and shelf of the Beaufort Sea. Arlington, VA: Arctic Institute of North America, 235–242.Google Scholar
Derocher, A.E., Nelson, R.A., Stirling, I., and Ramsay, M.A.. 1990. Effects of fasting and feeding on serum urea and serum creatinine levels in polar bears. Marine Mammal Science 63: 196–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derocher, A.E., and Stirling, I.. 1990. Distribution of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) during the ice-free period in western Hudson Bay. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 1395–1403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnell, D.J., and Oolooyuk, . 1980. Polar bear predation on ringed seals in ice-free water. Canadian Field Naturalist 94: 88–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garner, G.W., Knick, S.T., and Douglas, D.C.. 1990. Seasonal movements of adult female polar bears in the Bering and Chukchi seas. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 8: 219–226.Google Scholar
Hammill, M.O., and Smith, T.G.. 1989. Factors affecting the distribution and abundance of ringed seal structures in Barrow Strait, Northwest Territories. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67: 2212–2219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammill, M.O., and Smith, T.G.. 1991. The role of predation in the ecology of the ringed seal in Barrow Strait, Northwest Territories, Canada. Marine Mammal Science 7: 123–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonkel, C. 1970. Behavior of captured North American bears (with comments on bear management and research). Bio Science 20: 1145–1147.Google Scholar
Kingsley, M.C.S., Stirling, I., and Calvert, W.. 1985. The distribution and abundance of seals in the Canadian high Arctic, 1980–82. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42: 1189–1210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemp, G.A. 1972. Black bear population dynamics at Cold Lake, Alberta, 1968–70. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 2: 26–31.Google Scholar
Larsen, T., Jonkel, C., and Vibe, C.. 1983. Satellite radiotracking of polar bears between Svalbard and Greenland. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 5: 230–237.Google Scholar
Lentfer, J.W. 1972. Polar bear — sea ice relationships. International Conference on Bear Research and Managements. 165–171.Google Scholar
Lentfer, J.W., Hensel, R.J., Gilbert, J.E., and Sorensen, F.E.. 1980. Population characteristics of Alaskan polar bears. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 3: 109–116.Google Scholar
Lindsay, D.G. 1975. Sea ice atlas of Arctic Canada, 1961–1968. Ottawa: Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.Google Scholar
Lindsay, D.G. 1977. Sea ice atlas of Arctic Canada, 1969–1974. Ottawa: Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lunn, N.J., and Stenhouse, G.B.. 1985. An observation of possible cannibalism by polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 63: 1516–1517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLaren, I.A. 1958. The biology of the ringed seal (Phoca hispidaSchreber) in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 118.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, J.C. 1974. Inventory of physical oceanography of the eastern Beaufort Sea. In: Reed, J.C. and Slater, J.E. (editors). The coast and shelf of the Beaufort Sea. Arlington, VA: Arctic Institute of North America, 65–84.Google Scholar
Ramsay, M.A., Nelson, R.A., and Stirling, I.. 1991. Seasonal changes in the ratio of serum urea to creatinine in feeding and fasting polar bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69: 298–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, M.A., and Stirling, I.. 1986. On the mating system of polar bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64: 2142–2151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsay, M.A., and Stirling, I.. 1988. Reproductive biology and ecology of female polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Journal of Zoology 214: 601–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roots, E.F. 1980. Lancaster Sound: issues and responsibilities. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Resources Committee.Google Scholar
Smith, M., and Rigby, B.. 1981. Distribution of polynyas in the Canadian Arctic. In: Stirling, I. and Cleator, H. (editors). Polynyas in the Canadian Arctic. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 45: 7–28.Google Scholar
Smith, T.G. 1973. Population dynamics of the ringed seal in the Canadian eastern Arctic. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 181.Google Scholar
Smith, T.G. 1980. Polar bear predation of ringed and bearded seals in the land-fast sea ice habitat. Canadian Journal of Zoology 58: 2201–2209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T.G. 1987. The ringed seal, Phoca hispida, of the Canadian western Arctic. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 1561.Google Scholar
Smith, T.G., and Hammill, M.O.. 1981. Ecology of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida) in its fast ice breeding habitat. Canadian Journal of Zoology 59: 966–981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T.G., and Stirling, I.. 1975. The breeding habitat of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida): the birth lair and associated structures. Canadian Journal of Zoology 53: 1297–1305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T.G., and Stirling, I.. 1978. Variation in the density of ringed seal (Phoca hispida) birth lairs in the Amundsen Gulf, Northwest Territories. Canadian Journal of Zoology 56: 1066–1070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stefansson, V. 1921. The friendly Arctic. New York: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Stirling, I. 1974. Midsummer observations on the behavior of wild polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 52: 1191–1198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, I., and Archibald, W.R.. 1977. Aspects of predation of seals by polar bears. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34: 1126–1129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, I., Archibald, W.R., and DeMaster, D.P.. 1977b. Distribution and abundance of seals in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 34: 976–988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stirling, I., Calvert, W., and Andriashek, D.. 1980. Population ecology studies of the polar bear in the area of southeastern Baffin Island. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 44.Google Scholar
Stirling, I., Jonkel, C., Smith, P., Robertson, R., and Cross, C.. 1977a. The ecology of the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) along the western coast of Hudson Bay. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 33.Google Scholar
Stirling, I., Kingsley, M. C. S., and Calvert, W.. 1982. The distribution and abundance of seals in the eastern Beaufort Sea, 1974–79. Canadian Wildlife Service Occasional Paper 47.Google Scholar
Stirling, I., and McEwan, E.H.. 1975. The caloric value of whole ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in relation to polar bear (Ursus maritimus) ecology and hunting behavior. Canadian Journal of Zoology 53: 1021–1027.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stirling, I., Pearson, A.M., and Bunnell, F.L.. 1976. Population ecology studies of polar and grizzly bears in northern Canada. Transactions of the Forty-first North American Wildlife Conference 41: 421–430.Google Scholar
Stirling, I., and Smith, T.G.. 1975. Interrelationships of Arctic Ocean mammals in the sea ice habitat. In: Circumpolar Conference on Northern Ecology, Ottawa, 15–18 September, 1975. Ottawa: National Research Council of Canada, 131–136.Google Scholar
Taylor, M.K., Larsen, T., and Schweinsburg, R.E.. 1985. Observations of intraspecific aggression and cannibalism in polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Arctic 38: 303–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, H.P. 1974. Wind and cu rrents in the Beaufort Sea. In: Reed, J.C., and Sater, J.E. (editors). Thecoastand shelf of the Beaufort Sea. Arlington, VA: Arctic Institute of North America, 13–17.Google Scholar