Scholarlink

<p>Animal site fidelity is an important behaviour that can affect habitat selection, mating, foraging, and response to environmental change. We investigated within-individual on-ice fidelity of polar bears (<i>Ursus maritimus</i>) in western Hudson Bay, using satellite telemetry data from 87 adult females tracked between 2004 and 2021. We quantified site fidelity at two scales: broad (centroid distance between seasonal ranges) and fine (percent seasonal range overlap). The relative influence of biological covariates (reproductive status, age, individual), temporal covariates&#xa0;(year) and environmental covariates (sea ice freeze-up date, sea ice breakup date, Arctic Oscillation index, North Atlantic Oscillation Index, season) on these site fidelity metrics was investigated using model selection. Seasonal ranges had a mean centroid distance of 182&#xa0;km (SE = 7&#xa0;km, range 12–630&#xa0;km), and overlapped on average by 7.4% (SE = 0.76%, range 0–71.3%). Distance between centroids was significantly related to sea ice breakup date and season, and varied significantly by individual bear. On the other hand, none of the examined covariates significantly influenced seasonal range overlap. Our findings suggest that polar bears in western Hudson Bay display low levels of broad-scale fidelity and no fine-scale fidelity while on the sea ice. This limited&#xa0;on-ice fidelity&#xa0;may be attributed to widespread prey&#xa0;distribution, the seasonal and variable nature of Hudson Bay’s sea ice, and Hudson Bay’s geography, all of which may limit the ability and need for bears in this region to return to the same areas over time.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Polar bears in western Hudson Bay show limited on-ice site fidelity

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年2月20日

查看全文
  • Camille Jodouin,
  • Andrew E. Derocher,
  • Nicholas J. Lunn,
  • David McGeachy,
  • Nicholas W. Pilfold

摘要

Animal site fidelity is an important behaviour that can affect habitat selection, mating, foraging, and response to environmental change. We investigated within-individual on-ice fidelity of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in western Hudson Bay, using satellite telemetry data from 87 adult females tracked between 2004 and 2021. We quantified site fidelity at two scales: broad (centroid distance between seasonal ranges) and fine (percent seasonal range overlap). The relative influence of biological covariates (reproductive status, age, individual), temporal covariates (year) and environmental covariates (sea ice freeze-up date, sea ice breakup date, Arctic Oscillation index, North Atlantic Oscillation Index, season) on these site fidelity metrics was investigated using model selection. Seasonal ranges had a mean centroid distance of 182 km (SE = 7 km, range 12–630 km), and overlapped on average by 7.4% (SE = 0.76%, range 0–71.3%). Distance between centroids was significantly related to sea ice breakup date and season, and varied significantly by individual bear. On the other hand, none of the examined covariates significantly influenced seasonal range overlap. Our findings suggest that polar bears in western Hudson Bay display low levels of broad-scale fidelity and no fine-scale fidelity while on the sea ice. This limited on-ice fidelity may be attributed to widespread prey distribution, the seasonal and variable nature of Hudson Bay’s sea ice, and Hudson Bay’s geography, all of which may limit the ability and need for bears in this region to return to the same areas over time.