Aerial surveys cause large but ephemeral decreases in bear presence at salmon streams in Kodiak, Alaska

Aerial surveys are often used to monitor wildlife and fish populations, but rarely are the effects on animal behavior documented. For over 30 years, the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge has conducted low-altitude aerial surveys to assess Kodiak brown bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi) space use and demographic composition when bears are seasonally congregated near salmon spawning streams in southwestern Kodiak Island, Alaska. Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) are an important bear food and salmon runs are brief, so decreases in time spent fishing for salmon may reduce salmon consumption by bears. The goal of this study was to apply different and complementary field methods to evaluate the response of bears to these aerial surveys. Ground-based counts at one stream indicated 62% of bears departed the 200m-wide survey zone in response to aerial surveys, but bear counts returned to pre-survey abundance after only three hours. Although this effect was brief, survey flights occurred during the hours of peak daily bear activity (morning and evening), so the three-hour disruption appeared to result in a 25% decline in cumulative daily detections by 38 time-lapse cameras deployed along 10 salmon streams. Bear responses varied by sex—male bears were much more likely than female bears (with or without cubs) to depart streams and female bears with GPS collars did not move from streams following surveys. Although bears displaced by aerial surveys may consume fewer salmon, the actual effect on their fitness depends on whether they compensate by foraging at other times or by switching to other nutritious resources. Data from complementary sources allows managers to more robustly understand the impacts of surveys and whether their benefits are justified. Similar assessments should be made on alternative techniques such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and non-invasive sampling to determine whether they supply equivalent data while limiting bear disturbance.