The post-emergence period for denning Polar Bears: phenology and influence on cub survival.

ABSTRACT: Among polar bears (Ursus maritimus), only parturient females den for extended periods, emerging from maternal dens in spring after having substantially depleted their energy reserves during a fast that can exceed 8 months. Although den emergence coincides with a period of increasing prey availability, polar bears typically do not depart immediately to hunt, but instead remain at the den for up to a month. This delay suggests that there are likely adaptive advantages to remaining at the den between emergence and departure, but the influence of the timing and duration of this post-emergence period on cub survival has not been evaluated previously. We used temperature and location data from 70 denning bears collared within the Southern Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea subpopulations to est

SUBMITTER: Andersen EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11130516 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature