Brown bear body mass and growth in northern and southern Europe

@article{Swenson2007BrownBB,
  title={Brown bear body mass and growth in northern and southern Europe},
  author={Jon E. Swenson and Miha Adami{\vc} and Djuro Huber and Sigbj{\o}rn Stokke},
  journal={Oecologia},
  year={2007},
  volume={153},
  pages={37-47}
}
We tested six hypotheses to explain expected geographical differences in body masses of 1,771 brown bears (Ursus arctos) from northern and southern Europe (Sweden and Norway compared with Slovenia and Croatia): Bergmann’s rule, the fasting endurance hypothesis, and the dietary meat hypothesis, which predicted larger bears in the north; and hypotheses stressing the role of high primary productivity, high population density, low seasonality, and length of the growing season, which predicted… 
View on Springer
repozitorij.uni-lj.si
127 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
9
Background Citations
46
Methods Citations
1
Results Citations
2

127 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Dietary plasticity and the importance of salmon to brown bear (Ursus arctos) body size and condition in a low Arctic ecosystem
TLDR
Brown bear diet composition in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska from 2013 to 2015 is estimated to suggest that ecological flexibility within populations may provide an adaptive advantage by allowing individuals to reduce competition with conspecifics by foraging on alternate food resources.
Brown bear conservation and the ghost of persecution past
Energetics of hibernation and reproductive trade-offs in brown bears
TLDR
A model to assess the energetic costs of reproduction during hibernation and to determine how maternal condition, length of lactation, litter size, and length of hibernation affect brown bear reproductive success found that increasing litter size by one cub was more costly than increasing the lactation period.
Carnivory is Positively Correlated with Latitude among Omnivorous Mammals: Evidence from Brown Bears, Badgers and Pine Martens
TLDR
Comparison with the data on the diet of two other omnivorous mammals, the European badger and the European pine marten, provides evidence that increased carnivory towards northern latitudes may be a general adaptation in omnivory mammals.
Polar Bear Behavior: Morphologic and Physiologic Adaptations
  • J. P. Whiteman
  • Biology
    Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Sea Otters and Polar Bears
  • 2021
TLDR
Future research should focus on nutrient recycling during fasting, adaptation to a high-fat diet, susceptibility to pathogens, and assessment of the fitness consequences of ongoing sea ice loss and chemical contamination of their habitat.
Dietary specialization depending on ecological context and sexual differences in Asiatic black bears
TLDR
The results showed that the dietary composition differed among individuals, although seasonal changes in dietary composition were observed at the population level, and variations in the timing of feeding on the Fagaceae family were found, being earlier in females compared with males.
Seasonal and annual variation in the food habits of Apennine brown bears, central Italy
TLDR
High-quality foods, such as berries and other fleshy fruits, were increasingly consumed by bears in years of low to null hard mast productivity, suggesting that habitat productivity is currently high and diversified enough to allow bears to avoid the risk of nutritional stress during occasional hard mast failures.
Heritability of head size in a hunted large carnivore, the brown bear (Ursus arctos)
TLDR
This study is among the first to quantify heritability of a trait in a hunted large carnivore population, and shows that including important environmental variables when analyzing heritability is key to understanding the dynamics of the evolutionary potential of phenotypic traits.
nergetics of hibernation and reproductive trade-offs in brown bears laudia
Brown bears give birth and nurture their young for the first 3–5 months while fasting in hibernation. During this period, bears use body reserves to support the energy and protein costs of…
Spatial patterns in brown bear Ursus arctos diet: the role of geographical and environmental factors
TLDR
Dietary spatial patterns were best revealed by the relative biomass and energy content methods of diet analysis, whereas the frequency of occurrence and relative biomass methods were most appropriate for investigating variation in trophic diversity.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 74 REFERENCES
Body size variation of brown bear in Finland
TLDR
The results do not coincide with Bergmann's rule suggesting increasing body size with decreasing ambient temperature, probably owing to energy-saving winter dormancy during which brown bear is not overtly exposed to weather conditions, and possible differences in the quality of green forage might not largely influence the nutrition of an omnivorous mammal.
Postnatal growth in body length and mass of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard
TLDR
The generally smaller size of polar bears in Svalbard was consistent with density-dependent growth effects but again, information on population density relative to carrying capacity was insufficient to assess this hypothesis.
Effect of hibernation and reproductive status on body mass and condition of coastal brown bears
TLDR
Investigating the effect of hibernation and reproductive status on changes in body mass and composition of adult female brown bears on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska found relative fatness at the onset of lasting influences the relative proportion of lipid store and lean body mass catabolized to meet protein and energy demands during hibernation.
Geographic variation in growth of polar bears (Ursus maritimus)
TLDR
It is concluded that higher reproductive rates in western Hudson Bay were associated with higher growth rates, however, the reason for thehigher growth rates remain unknown.
Effect of seasonal differences in dietary meat intake on changes in body mass and composition in wild and captive brown bears
TLDR
Daily intake by captive brown bears fed meat ad libitum during 12-day trials was positively related to body mass, but the composition of the gain varied by season, with spring gains primarily lean body weight, while ...
POPULATION DENSITY AND FOOD CONDITIONS DETERMINE ADULT FEMALE BODY SIZE IN BROWN BEARS
TLDR
It is suggested that individual body size variation of female brown bears is negatively related to density-dependent factors and positively correlated to density -independent fluctuations in the environment.
The importance of meat, particularly salmon, to body size, population productivity, and conservation of North American brown bears
TLDR
The proportion of meat in the diet was significantly correlated with mean adult female body mass, mean litter size, and mean population density, and salmon was the most important source of meat for the largest, largest brown bear populations.
Size, trend, distribution and conservation of the brown bear Ursus arctos population in Sweden
TLDR
The bear population in Sweden appeared to have increased at a stable rate of about 1·5% annually during the past 50 years, and relative densities within the female core areas varied from 50 to 100% of those in similar habitats in European Russia.
Reproductive biology of female black bears in relation to body mass in early winter
TLDR
Litter size was influenced by maternal condition in early winter, and overwinter loss of mass greater for females producing litters of three and four young, and for a particular litter size, heavier females tended to produce more male young than expected from an equal sex ratio.
Potential mechanisms of phenotypic divergence in body size between Newfoundland and mainland black bear populations
TLDR
It is predicted that body size should be larger in Newfoundland bears than in mainland populations, and that among the six populations, male body mass should scale hyperallometrically with female body mass.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...