Book contents
- Bears of the World
- Bears of the World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Frontispiece
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Systematics, Ecology, and Behavior
- Chapter 1 Systematics, Evolution, and Genetics of Bears
- Chapter 2 Mating Strategies
- Chapter 3 Interspecific Interactions between Brown Bears, Ungulates, and Other Large Carnivores
- Chapter 4 Adaptations and Competitive Interactions of Tropical Asian Bear Species Define Their Biogeography: Past, Present, and Future
- Chapter 5 Remarkable Adaptations of the American Black Bear Help Explain Why it is the Most Common Bear: A Long-Term Study from the Center of its Range
- Part II Species Accounts
- Part III Human–Bear Coexistence
- Part IV Conservation and ManagementConservation and Management
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Chapter 5 - Remarkable Adaptations of the American Black Bear Help Explain Why it is the Most Common Bear: A Long-Term Study from the Center of its Range
from Part I - Systematics, Ecology, and Behavior
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2020
Book contents
- Bears of the World
- Bears of the World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Frontispiece
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Systematics, Ecology, and Behavior
- Chapter 1 Systematics, Evolution, and Genetics of Bears
- Chapter 2 Mating Strategies
- Chapter 3 Interspecific Interactions between Brown Bears, Ungulates, and Other Large Carnivores
- Chapter 4 Adaptations and Competitive Interactions of Tropical Asian Bear Species Define Their Biogeography: Past, Present, and Future
- Chapter 5 Remarkable Adaptations of the American Black Bear Help Explain Why it is the Most Common Bear: A Long-Term Study from the Center of its Range
- Part II Species Accounts
- Part III Human–Bear Coexistence
- Part IV Conservation and ManagementConservation and Management
- Index
- Miscellaneous Endmatter
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
- References
Summary
American black bears (Ursus americanus) are by far the most abundant species of bear, numbering more than twice that of all other bear species combined. Many US states share this history of black bear decline and resurgence, and today have burgeoning bear populations. To a large extent, the comeback of this species has been a consequence of restrictions on killing, and a fundamental change in how the public perceives and reacts to black bears. However, the success of this species is also due to its biological adaptiveness – its ability to live in a vast array of habitats, to adapt to radically variable food conditions, and to tolerate the presence of people and the changes they have imposed on the landscape. This chapter highlights the adaptability of the black bear using an extensive and diverse data set spanning 38 years. We explore reasons for their commonness, using a long-term case study from near the geographic center of this species’ range: Minnesota, USA.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Bears of the WorldEcology, Conservation and Management, pp. 53 - 62Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Coy, P. L. & Garshelis, D. L. (1992). Reconstructing reproductive histories of black bears from the incremental layering in dental cementum. Canadian Journal of Zoology 70: 2150–2160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditmer, M. A., Burk, T. E. & Garshelis, D. L. (2015a). Do innate food preferences and learning affect crop raiding by American black bears? Ursus 26: 40–52.Google Scholar
Ditmer, M. A., Garshelis, D. L., Noyce, K. V., et al. (2015b). Behavioral and physiological responses of American black bears to landscape features in an agricultural region. Ecosphere 6(3): 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14–00199.1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditmer, M. A., Garshelis, D. L., Noyce, K. V., Haveles, A. W. & Fieberg, J. R. (2016). Are American black bears in an agricultural landscape being sustained by crops? Journal of Mammalogy 97: 54–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditmer, M. A., Garshelis, D. L., Noyce, K. V. & Fieberg, J. R. (2018a). Delineating the ecological and geographic edge of an opportunist: the American black bear exploiting an agricultural landscape. Ecological Modelling 387: 205–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditmer, M. A., Rettler, S. J., Fieberg, J. R., et al. (2018b). American black bears perceive the risks of crossing roads. Behavioral Ecology 29: 667–675.Google Scholar
Garshelis, D. L. & Hellgren, E. C. (1994). Variation in reproductive biology of male black bears. Journal of Mammalogy 75: 175–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garshelis, D. L. & Noyce, K. V. (2008). Seeing the world through the nose of a bear – diversity of foods fosters behavioral and demographic stability. In: Fulbright, T. & Hewitt, D. (Eds.), Frontiers in wildlife science: Linking ecological theory and management applications (pp. 139–163). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Henry, A. & Thompson, D. (1897). New light on the early history of the greater Northwest. The manuscript journals of Alexander Henry and of David Thompson 1799–1814. Exploration and adventure among the Indians on the Red, Saskatchewan, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers. Coues, E. (Ed.), vol. 1. New York, NY: Harper.Google Scholar
Iaizzo, P. A., Laske, T. G., Harlow, H. J., McClay, C. B. & Garshelis, D. L. (2012). Wound healing during hibernation by black bears (Ursus americanus) in the wild: elicitation of reduced scar formation. Integrative Zoology 7: 77–89.Google Scholar
Iles, T. L., Laske, T. G., Garshelis, D. L. & Iaizzo, P. A. (2017). Blood clotting behavior is innately modulated in Ursus americanus during early and late denning relative to summer months. Journal of Experimental Biology 220: 455–459.Google Scholar
Laske, T. G., Harlow, H. J., Garshelis, D. L. & Iaizzo, P. A. (2010). Extreme respiratory sinus arrhythmia enables hibernating black bear survival – physiological insights and applications to human medicine. Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research 3: 559–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laske, T. G., Garshelis, D. L. & Iaizzo, P. A. (2011). Monitoring the wild black bear’s reaction to human and environmental stressors. BMC Physiology 11: 13. doi:10.1186/1472-6793-11-13Google Scholar
Laske, T. G., Iaizzo, P. A. & Garshelis, D. L. (2017). Six years in the life of a mother bear – the longest continuous heart rate recordings from a free-ranging mammal. Scientific Reports 7:40732. doi: 10.1038/srep40732.Google Scholar
Laske, T. G., Evans, A. L., Arnemo, J. M., et al. (2018). Development and utilization of implantable cardiac monitors in free-ranging American black and Eurasian brown bears: system evolution and lessons learned. Animal Biotelemetry 6: 13. doi.org/10.1186/s40317–018-0157-zGoogle Scholar
Noyce, K. V. & Garshelis, D. L. (1994). Body size and blood characteristics as indicators of condition and reproductive performance in black bears. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 9: 481–496.Google Scholar
Noyce, K. V. & Garshelis, D. L. (1997). Influence of natural food abundance on black bear harvests in Minnesota. Journal of Wildlife Management 61: 1067–1074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noyce, K. V. & Garshelis, D. L. (1998). Spring weight changes in black bears in northcentral Minnesota: the negative foraging period revisited. Ursus 10: 521–531.Google Scholar
Noyce, K. V. & Garshelis, D. L. (2011). Seasonal migrations of black bears (Ursus americanus): causes and consequences. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65: 823–835.Google Scholar
Noyce, K. V. & Garshelis, D. L. (2014). Follow the leader: social cues help guide landscape-level movements of American black bears (Ursus americanus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 92: 1005–1017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schorger, A. W. (1949). The black bear in early Wisconsin. Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters 39: 151–194.Google Scholar
- 3
- Cited by