Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines
Industrial developments and reclamation change habitat, possibly altering large carnivore food base. We monitored the diet of a low-density population of grizzly bears occupying a landscape with open-pit coal mines in Canada. During 2009–2010 we instrumented 10 bears with GPS radiocollars and compar...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000694 |
| _version_ | 1818369533277110272 |
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| author | Bogdan Cristescu Gordon B. Stenhouse Mark S. Boyce |
| author_facet | Bogdan Cristescu Gordon B. Stenhouse Mark S. Boyce |
| author_sort | Bogdan Cristescu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Industrial developments and reclamation change habitat, possibly altering large carnivore food base. We monitored the diet of a low-density population of grizzly bears occupying a landscape with open-pit coal mines in Canada. During 2009–2010 we instrumented 10 bears with GPS radiocollars and compared their feeding on reclaimed coal mines and neighboring Rocky Mountains and their foothills. In addition, we compared our data with historical bear diet for the same population collected in 2001–2003, before extensive mine reclamation occurred. Diet on mines (n=331 scats) was dominated by non-native forbs and graminoids, while diets in the Foothills and Mountains consisted primarily of ungulates and Hedysarum spp. roots respectively, showing diet shifting with availability. Field visitation of feeding sites (n=234 GPS relocation clusters) also showed that ungulates were the main diet component in the Foothills, whereas on reclaimed mines bears were least carnivorous. These differences illustrate a shift to feeding on non-native forbs while comparisons with historical diet reveal emergence of elk as an important bear food. Food resources on reclaimed mines attract bears from wilderness areas and bears may be more adaptable to landscape change than previously thought. The grizzly bear’s ready use of mines cautions the universal view of this species as umbrella indicative of biodiversity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:25:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb35dae5cf034971a1c9cad3a27239dd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T23:25:21Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb35dae5cf034971a1c9cad3a27239dd2022-12-21T23:27:34ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942015-07-014C20722010.1016/j.gecco.2015.06.007Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed minesBogdan Cristescu0Gordon B. Stenhouse1Mark S. Boyce2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, CanadaGrizzly Bear Program, Foothills Research Institute, Box 6330, Hinton, Alberta T7V 1X7, CanadaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, CanadaIndustrial developments and reclamation change habitat, possibly altering large carnivore food base. We monitored the diet of a low-density population of grizzly bears occupying a landscape with open-pit coal mines in Canada. During 2009–2010 we instrumented 10 bears with GPS radiocollars and compared their feeding on reclaimed coal mines and neighboring Rocky Mountains and their foothills. In addition, we compared our data with historical bear diet for the same population collected in 2001–2003, before extensive mine reclamation occurred. Diet on mines (n=331 scats) was dominated by non-native forbs and graminoids, while diets in the Foothills and Mountains consisted primarily of ungulates and Hedysarum spp. roots respectively, showing diet shifting with availability. Field visitation of feeding sites (n=234 GPS relocation clusters) also showed that ungulates were the main diet component in the Foothills, whereas on reclaimed mines bears were least carnivorous. These differences illustrate a shift to feeding on non-native forbs while comparisons with historical diet reveal emergence of elk as an important bear food. Food resources on reclaimed mines attract bears from wilderness areas and bears may be more adaptable to landscape change than previously thought. The grizzly bear’s ready use of mines cautions the universal view of this species as umbrella indicative of biodiversity.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000694Brown bearEnvironmental impactGPS clustersMine reclamationScat analysisUrsus arctos |
| spellingShingle | Bogdan Cristescu Gordon B. Stenhouse Mark S. Boyce Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines Global Ecology and Conservation Brown bear Environmental impact GPS clusters Mine reclamation Scat analysis Ursus arctos |
| title | Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| title_full | Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| title_fullStr | Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| title_short | Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| title_sort | grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines |
| topic | Brown bear Environmental impact GPS clusters Mine reclamation Scat analysis Ursus arctos |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000694 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bogdancristescu grizzlybeardietshiftingonreclaimedmines AT gordonbstenhouse grizzlybeardietshiftingonreclaimedmines AT marksboyce grizzlybeardietshiftingonreclaimedmines |