Remote biopsy darting and marking of polar bears

Pagano, Anthony M.; Peacock, Elizabeth; McKinney, Melissa A.

doi:10.1111/mms.12029

Cited by 35 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Polar bears were then grouped according to sex/age class as cubs-of-the-year, yearlings, 2-yr-old dependent cubs, subadult (independent 2-, 3-, and 4-yr-old) females and males, and adult (5-yr-old and older) females and males. All bears were genetically identified (Pagano et al 2014).…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal complexity of southernBeaufortSea polar bear diets during a period of increasing land use

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. From 2000 to 2013, use of land as a seasonal habitat by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation substantially increased. This onshore use has been linked to reduced spatial and temporal availability of sea ice, as well as to the availability of subsistence-harvested bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) bone piles. Here, we evaluated the role of climate conditions on consumption of traditional ice-associated prey relative to onshore bowhead whale bone piles. We determined seasonal and interannual trends in the diets of SB polar bears using fatty acid-based analysis during this period of increasing land use. Diet estimates of 569 SB polar bears from 2004 to 2012 showed high seasonal fluctuations in the proportions of prey consumed. Higher proportions of bowhead whale, as well as ringed seal (Pusa hispida) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), were estimated to occur in the winter-spring diet, while higher proportions of bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) were estimated for summer-fall diets. Trends in the annual mean proportions of individual prey items were not found in either period, except for significant declines in the proportion of beluga in spring-sampled bears. Nonetheless, in years following a high winter Arctic oscillation index, proportions of ice-associated ringed seal were lower in the winterspring diets of adult females and juveniles. Proportions of bowhead increased in the winter-spring diets of adult males with the number of ice-free days over the continental shelf. In one or both seasons, polar bears that were in better condition were estimated to have consumed less ringed seal and/or more bowhead whale than those in worse condition. Therefore, climate variation over this recent period appeared to influence the extent of onshore vs. on-ice food use, which in turn, appeared to be linked to fluctuating condition of SB polar bears.

show abstract

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal complexity of southernBeaufortSea polar bear diets during a period of increasing land use

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Monitoring the condition of AFs is critical as it is pregnant and lactating AFs and their cubs that are of greatest concern with respect to climate change impacts (Robbins et al 2012b). Moreover, because remotely collected samples can be obtained using biopsy darts (Pagano et al 2014), body condition assessments can be accomplished relatively noninvasively, which may be preferential in more remote areas and for other concerns (Peacock et al 2011;Vongraven et al 2012). Though our findings are encouraging, we have also identified limitations of the lipid content CI that warrant further research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…This dataset provides an opportunity to thoroughly evaluate adipose lipid content as a CI. In response to some community, management, and scientist concerns (with regard to, e.g., capture, handling, collaring, chemical immobilization,), noninvasive sampling methods have been proposed (Peacock et al 2011;Vongraven et al 2012) and developed for polar bears and other wildlife (e.g., Fedigan 2010;Herreman and Peacock 2013;Pagano et al 2014). Here, we also test the applicability of lipid content to recently collected SB polar bear remote biopsies for which no established CIs besides FI could be obtained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of adipose lipid content as a body condition index for polar bears

McKinney

Atwood

Dietz

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Body condition is a key indicator of individual and population health. Yet, there is little consensus as to the most appropriate condition index (CI), and most of the currently used CIs have not been thoroughly validated and are logistically challenging. Adipose samples from large datasets of capture biopsied, remote biopsied, and harvested polar bears were used to validate adipose lipid content as a CI via tests of accuracy, precision, sensitivity, biopsy depth, and storage conditions and comparisons to established CIs, to measures of health and to demographic and ecological parameters. The lipid content analyses of even very small biopsy samples were highly accurate and precise, but results were influenced by tissue depth at which the sample was taken. Lipid content of capture biopsies and samples from harvested adult females was correlated with established CIs and/or conformed to expected biological variation and ecological changes. However, lipid content of remote biopsies was lower than capture biopsies and harvested samples, possibly due to lipid loss during dart retrieval. Lipid content CI is a biologically relevant, relatively inexpensive and rapidly assessed CI and can be determined routinely for individuals and populations in order to infer large-scale spatial and long-term temporal trends. As it is possible to collect samples during routine harvesting or remotely using biopsy darts, monitoring and assessment of body condition can be accomplished without capture and handling procedures or noninvasively, which are methods that are preferred by local communities. However, further work is needed to apply the method to remote biopsies.

show abstract

“…[266][267][268][269]. Furthermore, many field projects either utilize bands or dyes for individual identification or depend on researchers' ability to visually distinguish individuals [270][271][272]. Therefore, by accompanying field workers or training them in sample preservation, gut microbiome researchers should be able to obtain samples from identified host individuals fairly easily.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-evolution in context: The importance of studying gut microbiomes in wild animals

Amato

2013

Microbiome Science and Medicine

148

152

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionAs sequencing technology makes data generation faster, cheaper, and more comprehensive, studies of gut microbial communities are multiplying at an astonishing rate. As a result, our understanding of the host-gut microbe relationship is constantly improving. Studies to date have demonstrated that the gut microbiota contributes to host nutrition, health and behavioral patterns by providing energy and nutrients, improving immune function, and influencing the production of neuroactive molecules [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Changes in the composition of the gut microbial community are known to lead to changes in its function, which can alter host nutrition, health and behavior [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Environmental factors such as diet or social contact are largely responsible for determining the composition of the gut microbial community [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], but host genotype also affects the abundances of some microbial genera [28,32,33].Because host-gut microbe relationships are influenced to some extent by host genotype, and gut microbial community composition differs according to host phylogeny [34][35][36], discussions of the co-evolution of host and gut microbiota are common in the current literature [7,[34][35][36][37]. Some researchers argue that since microbes are found in animals as simple as earthworms, the co-evolution of animals and bacteria has been Co-evolution in context: The importance of studying gut microbiomes in wild animals Abstract Because the gut microbiota contributes to host nutrition, health and behavior, and gut microbial community composition differs according to host phylogeny, co-evolution is believed to have been an important mechanism in the formation of the host-gut microbe relationship. However, current research is not ideal for examining this theme. Most studies of the gut microbiota are performed in controlled settings, but gut microbial community composition is strongly influenced by environmental factors.To truly explore the co-evolution of host and microbe, it is necessary to have data describing host-microbe dynamics in natural environments with variation in factors such as climate, food availability, disease prevalence, and host behavior. In this review, I use current knowledge of host-gut microbe dynamics to explore the potential interactions between host and microbe in natural habitats. These interactions include the influence of host habitat on gut microbial community composition as well as the impacts of the gut microbiota on host fitness in a given habitat. Based on what we currently know, the potential connections between host habitat, the gut microbiota, and host fitness are great. Studies of wild animals will be an essential next step to test these connections and to advance our understanding of host-gut microbe co-evolution. KeywordsGut microbiota • host-microbe • co-evolution • habitat • ecology • fitness occurring for more than 800 million years [38,39]. Additionally, the increased complexity and stabilit...

show abstract

Remote biopsy darting and marking of polar bears

Cited by 35 publications

References 51 publications

Temporal complexity of southernBeaufortSea polar bear diets during a period of increasing land use

Temporal complexity of southernBeaufortSea polar bear diets during a period of increasing land use

Validation of adipose lipid content as a body condition index for polar bears

Co-evolution in context: The importance of studying gut microbiomes in wild animals

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About