Supplementary material from "Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs"
Version 2 2021-04-05, 04:54
Version 1 2021-04-01, 11:16
Posted on 2021-04-05 - 04:54
Climate-mediated sea-ice loss is disrupting the foraging ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) across much of their range. As a result, there have been increased reports of polar bears foraging on seabird eggs across parts of their range. Given that polar bears have evolved to hunt seals on ice, they may not be efficient predators of seabird eggs. We investigated polar bears' foraging performance on common eider (Somateria mollissima) eggs on Mitivik Island, Nunavut, Canada to test whether bear decision-making heuristics are consistent with expectations of optimal foraging theory. Using aerial-drones, we recorded multiple foraging bouts over 11 days, and found that as clutches were depleted to completion, bears did not exhibit foraging behaviours matched to resource density. As the season progressed, bears visited fewer nests overall, but marginally increased their visitation to nests that were already empty. Bears did not display different movement modes related to nest density, but became less selective in their choice of clutches to consume. Lastly, bears that capitalized on visual cues of flushing eider hens significantly increased the number of clutches they consumed; however, they did not use this strategy consistently or universally. The foraging behaviours exhibited by polar bears in this study suggest they are inefficient predators of seabird eggs, particularly in the context of matching behaviours to resource density.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
DataCite
3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR
AAPG Bulletin
AAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)
Academic Medicine
Academic Pediatrics
Academic Psychiatry
Academic Questions
Academy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management Review
Jagielski, Patrick M.; Dey, Cody J.; Grant Gilchrist, H.; Richardson, Evan S.; Love, Oliver P.; Semeniuk, Christina A. D. (2021). Supplementary material from "Polar bears are inefficient predators of seabird eggs". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5361976.v2
or
Select your citation style and then place your mouse over the citation text to select it.
SHARE
Usage metrics
Read the peer-reviewed publication
AUTHORS (6)
PJ
Patrick M. Jagielski
CD
Cody J. Dey
HG
H. Grant Gilchrist
ER
Evan S. Richardson
OL
Oliver P. Love
CS
Christina A. D. Semeniuk