Team Work to Help the World's Polar Bears
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Amstrup also stresses the importance of studying the Chukchi Sea population, which faces climate change issues similar to those of the bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea. He notes that a limited and shorter-term study would be sufficient there because of the ability to extrapolate observed trends in the Chukchi area and relate them to trends in the Southern Beaufort Sea bears.
Southern Beaufort Sea Census
PBI has helped provide funds for a census of the Southern Beaufort Sea population of polar bears for the past three years. Dr. Ian Stirling of the Canadian Wildlife Service says that having a baseline of data on the population, which is shared by the U.S. and Canada, will help scientists determine the most appropriate management and conservation actions.
"We need to ensure that both the Inuit harvesting of polar bears and offshore environmental activities are conducted in a sustainable fashion," Stirling says. "This objective can only be met if we have reliable data on the size of the respective populations, their reproductive and demographic parameters, and the trend in all those categories."
Stirling adds that, at present, the only method that allows scientists to accurately determine those parameters is the mark-recapture method, supplemented with the radio-tracking of adult females for longitudinal reproductive information.
Dr. Steven C. Amstrup is the team leader for the U.S. effort in the region. He notes that the Southern Beaufort Sea bears are among the most pelagic of any polar bears.
"The polar bears there historically seldom come to land," he says. "Several other populations also fit this model. As we move forward in a world of changing climate, it is critical that we continue to monitor populations where we have good baselines and long data strings. It is only through understanding how the well-known populations are changing that we will be able to extrapolate to other, less well-known populations."
Aerial Surveys
PBI has underwritten various initiatives over the years to help scientists better understand polar bears. Dr. Steven C. Amstrup says that there is "a burning research need" to determine the accuracy of aerial counts. The best way to test the accuracy, he says, is to conduct an aerial survey of the polar bear population along Western Hudson Bay. These results can then be compared with the in-depth capture and release work of Drs. Ian Stirling and Nick Lunn on the same population.
"Although aerial counts have been used extensively for some wildlife, their effectiveness with polar bears has yet to be demonstrated," Amstrup says. "We currently have, for Western Hudson Bay polar bears, the best estimate of population size and trend for almost any large mammal. This is the result of the long term monitoring that has occurred there over the past 30 years and the recent intensive capture-recapture efforts. We can use that estimate of population size to test the accuracy of the aerial survey method."
Southern Beaufort Sea Census
PBI has helped provide funds for a census of the Southern Beaufort Sea population of polar bears for the past three years. Dr. Ian Stirling of the Canadian Wildlife Service says that having a baseline of data on the population, which is shared by the U.S. and Canada, will help scientists determine the most appropriate management and conservation actions.
"We need to ensure that both the Inuit harvesting of polar bears and offshore environmental activities are conducted in a sustainable fashion," Stirling says. "This objective can only be met if we have reliable data on the size of the respective populations, their reproductive and demographic parameters, and the trend in all those categories."
Stirling adds that, at present, the only method that allows scientists to accurately determine those parameters is the mark-recapture method, supplemented with the radio-tracking of adult females for longitudinal reproductive information.
Dr. Steven C. Amstrup is the team leader for the U.S. effort in the region. He notes that the Southern Beaufort Sea bears are among the most pelagic of any polar bears.
"The polar bears there historically seldom come to land," he says. "Several other populations also fit this model. As we move forward in a world of changing climate, it is critical that we continue to monitor populations where we have good baselines and long data strings. It is only through understanding how the well-known populations are changing that we will be able to extrapolate to other, less well-known populations."
Aerial Surveys
PBI has underwritten various initiatives over the years to help scientists better understand polar bears. Dr. Steven C. Amstrup says that there is "a burning research need" to determine the accuracy of aerial counts. The best way to test the accuracy, he says, is to conduct an aerial survey of the polar bear population along Western Hudson Bay. These results can then be compared with the in-depth capture and release work of Drs. Ian Stirling and Nick Lunn on the same population.
"Although aerial counts have been used extensively for some wildlife, their effectiveness with polar bears has yet to be demonstrated," Amstrup says. "We currently have, for Western Hudson Bay polar bears, the best estimate of population size and trend for almost any large mammal. This is the result of the long term monitoring that has occurred there over the past 30 years and the recent intensive capture-recapture efforts. We can use that estimate of population size to test the accuracy of the aerial survey method."