Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, North Atlantic Coast CESU

archived

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center (ASC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to support an evaluation of diets of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea relative to changing behaviors and environmental conditions. Specifically, the objectives are to compare diets of bears that summer onshore to those that summer on the sea ice, and investigate whether diets have changed over time in relation to declines in sea ice extent. The southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation of polar bears has experienced sea ice loss leading to an increasing trend of polar bears spending time on land during summer and possibly foraging on novel food items. A comparative analysis of diet may reveal the degree of plasticity present in bears from the southern Beaufort Sea and elucidate the potential for long-term persistence of polar bears.

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