Date: March 15, 2017
Source: University of Washington
Polar bears are listed as a
threatened species as the ice-covered ocean they depend on for hunting and
transportation becomes scarce. Changes in the Arctic Ocean are also affecting
the humans who have called this area home and hunted across the landscape for
thousands of years.
Research from the University of
Washington, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey
investigates what these changes could mean for subsistence harvest of polar
bears -- a practice that has cultural, nutritional and economic importance to
many Northern communities.
An open-access study published
this month in the Journal of Applied Ecology addresses this question using an
improved model of how polar bear populations function.
"A big question in polar
bear conservation is: How will habitat loss and harvest interact to affect the
status of polar bear populations?" said lead author Eric Regehr, a
researcher with the UW's Applied Physics Laboratory who did the work as a
biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The authors identify ways to
maintain subsistence harvest without compounding the negative effects of
habitat loss, as long as there is accurate population data and the harvest is
responsive to changes in the environment.
"A key takeaway is that,
under many conditions, it is possible to identify a rate of harvest -- the
fraction of a population to be removed each year -- that doesn't drive down the
population or accelerate any potential population declines due to habitat
loss," Regehr said.
Currently there are about 26,000
polar bears divided into 19 subpopulations across the Arctic, two of which
occur partially in Alaska. The species was listed as threatened throughout its
range under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2008 due to observed and
projected loss of sea-ice habitat due to climate change.
"The current status of the
19 subpopulations in relation to climate change is variable. Some are declining
or exhibiting signs of stress," Regehr said. "Because of regional
variation in environmental conditions and ecology, some subpopulations are
stable or may be increasing."
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