IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-023-44682-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony M. Pagano

    (U. S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center)

  • Karyn D. Rode

    (U. S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center)

  • Nicholas J. Lunn

    (Wildlife Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada)

  • David McGeachy

    (Wildlife Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada)

  • Stephen N. Atkinson

    (226104 Melrose Road)

  • Sean D. Farley

    (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

  • Joy A. Erlenbach

    (Washington State University
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge)

  • Charles T. Robbins

    (Washington State University
    Washington State University)

Abstract

Declining Arctic sea ice is increasing polar bear land use. Polar bears on land are thought to minimize activity to conserve energy. Here, we measure the daily energy expenditure (DEE), diet, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of 20 different polar bears on land over 19–23 days from August to September (2019–2022) in Manitoba, Canada. Polar bears on land exhibited a 5.2-fold range in DEE and 19-fold range in activity, from hibernation-like DEEs to levels approaching active bears on the sea ice, including three individuals that made energetically demanding swims totaling 54–175 km. Bears consumed berries, vegetation, birds, bones, antlers, seal, and beluga. Beyond compensating for elevated DEE, there was little benefit from terrestrial foraging toward prolonging the predicted time to starvation, as 19 of 20 bears lost mass (0.4–1.7 kg•day−1). Although polar bears on land exhibit remarkable behavioral plasticity, our findings reinforce the risk of starvation, particularly in subadults, with forecasted increases in the onshore period.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony M. Pagano & Karyn D. Rode & Nicholas J. Lunn & David McGeachy & Stephen N. Atkinson & Sean D. Farley & Joy A. Erlenbach & Charles T. Robbins, 2024. "Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-44682-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44682-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44682-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-44682-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Péter K. Molnár & Andrew E. Derocher & Tin Klanjscek & Mark A. Lewis, 2011. "Predicting climate change impacts on polar bear litter size," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sangare, Nathanaël & Lo-Yat, Alain & Moullac, Gilles Le & Pecquerie, Laure & Thomas, Yoann & Lefebvre, Sébastien & Gendre, Romain Le & Beliaeff, Benoît & Andréfouët, Serge, 2020. "Impact of environmental variability on Pinctada margaritifera life-history traits: A full life cycle deb modeling approach," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 423(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-44682-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.