Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Pacific Northwest CESU

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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center (ASC) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research to support a comparison of the onshore ecology of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea and Baffin Bay subpopulations. Specifically, the objectives are to compare 1) onshore arrival and departure dates of radio-tagged polar bears relative to the timing of sea ice break-up in summer and reformation in fall; 2) movement behavior and activity patterns of bears in both populations and different sex and age classes; and 3) onshore patterns of spatial distribution relative to habitat and landscape covariates, including anthropogenic activity. The southern Beaufort and Baffin Bay subpopulations have experienced sea ice loss leading to an increasing trend of polar bears spending time on land during summer. A comparative analysis of onshore ecology of these two subpopulations can reveal the degree of plasticity present in each subpopulation and elucidate the potential for long-term persistence of polar bears.

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