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Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Fact Sheet: Bibliography & Resources

Bibliography

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Aars J, Andersen M, Brenière A, Blanc S. 2015. White-beaked dolphins trapped in the ice and eaten by polar bears. Polar Research. 34(1):26612. doi:10.3402/polar.v34.26612.

Agnarsson, I., M. Kuntner, L. May-Collado 2010. Dogs, cats, and kin: A molecular species-level phylogeny of Carnivora. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54:726-745.

Alaska Department of Fish & Game. 1996. Polar bear life history and habitat requirement: arctic and western regions. In: Alaska Habitat Management Guide: Life Histories and Habitat Requirements of Fish and Wildlife. Juneau: State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Habitat.

Ames, A. 1993. The behaviour of captive polar bears. UFAW Animal Welfare Research Report 5: 1-67

Armstrup, S. C., and C. L. Gardner. 1994. Polar bear maternity denning in the Beaufort Sea. Journal of Wildlife Management, 58(1):1-10.

Amstrup, S. C., G. Durner, I. Stirling, N. Lunn, F. Messier 2000. Movements and distribution of polar bears in the Beaufort Sea. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 948-66.

Amstrup, S. C., Marcot, B. G. & Douglas, D. C. (2008). A Bayesian network modeling approach to forecasting the 21st century worldwide status of polar bears. In: DeWeaver, E. T., Bitz, C. M. & Tremblay, L.-B. (eds.), Arctic sea ice decline: Observations, projections, mechanisms, and implications. Geophysical Monograph 180 (pp. 213–268). Washington DC: American Geophysical Union. doi:10.1029/180GM14.

Andersen M, Derocher AE, Wiig Ø, Aars J. 2012. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternity den distribution in Svalbard, Norway. Polar Biol. 35(4):499–508. doi:10.1007/s00300-011-1094-y.

Atkinson, S. N. and M. A. Ramsay 1995. The effects of prolonged fasting of the body composition and reproductive success of female polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Functional Ecology 9:559-567.

Atwood TC, Peacock E, McKinney MA, Lillie K, Wilson R, Douglas DC, Miller S, Terletzky P. 2016. Rapid environmental change drives increased land use by an Arctic marine predator. PLoS ONE. 11(6):e0155932. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0155932.

Atwood TC, Rode KD, Douglas DC, Simac K, Pagano AM, Bromaghin JF. 2021. Long-term variation in polar bear body condition and maternal investment relative to a changing environment. Global Ecology and Conservation. 32:e01925. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01925.

Amstrup, S. C. 2003. Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus. In: G. Feldhamer, B. Thompson, J. Chapman (eds.) Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore and London.

Auger-Méthé M, Lewis MA, Derocher AE. 2016. Home ranges in moving habitats: polar bears and sea ice. Ecography. 39(1):26–35. doi:10.1111/ecog.01260.

AZA. 2023. Species Survival Statistics [data table report]. Chicago (IL): Lincoln Park Zoo/AZA Population Management Center; [accessed 2023 Feb 08]. https://www.aza.org/species-survival-statistics.

Barnas AF, Iles DT, Stechmann TJ, Wampole EM, Koons DN, Rockwell RF, Ellis-Felege SN. 2020. A phenological comparison of grizzly (Ursus arctos) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) as waterfowl nest predators in Wapusk National Park. Polar Biol. 43(5):457–465. doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02647-w.

Best RC. 1977. Ecological aspects of polar bear nutrition. In: Proceedings of the 1975 predator symposium. Missoula: University of Montana Press.

Beyens L, van Meurs R. 2019. The future polar bear: the impact of the vanishing sea ice on an Arctic ecosystem. Brussels: Academic and Scientific Publishers.

Biddlecombe BA, Derocher AE, Richardson ES, Stirling I. 2019. Behaviour and characteristics of mating polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Beaufort Sea, Canada. Polar Biol. 42(5):919–929. doi:10.1007/s00300-019-02485-5.

Born, E. W., A. Renzoni, and R. Dietz. 1991. Total mercury in hair of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from Greenland and Svalbard. Polar Research, 9(2) :113-120.

Born, E. W., and S. A. Henriksen.1990. Prevalence of Trichinella sp. in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from northeastern Greenland. Polar Research, 8(2) :313-316.

Bourque J, Atwood TC, Divoky GJ, Stewart C, McKinney MA. 2020. Fatty acid‐based diet estimates suggest ringed seal remain the main prey of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears despite recent use of onshore food resources. Ecol Evol. 10(4):2093–2103. doi:10.1002/ece3.6043.

Bromaghin JF, McDonald TL, Stirling I, Derocher AE, Richardson ES, Regehr EV, Douglas DC, Durner GM, Atwood T, Amstrup SC. 2015. Polar bear population dynamics in the southern Beaufort Sea during a period of sea ice decline. Ecological Applications. 25(3):634–651. doi:10.1890/14-1129.1.

Brook RK, Richardson ES. 2002. Observations of polar bear predatory behaviour toward caribou. ARCTIC. 55(2):193–196. doi:10.14430/arctic703.

Brown, G. 1993. The Great Bear Almanac. N. Y.  Lyons & Burford.

Brown TA, Galicia MP, Thiemann GW, Belt ST, Yurkowski DJ, Dyck MG. 2018. High contributions of sea ice derived carbon in polar bear (Ursus maritimus) tissue. Derocher A, editor. PLoS ONE. 13(1):e0191631. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0191631.

Castro de la Guardia L, Derocher AE, Myers PG, Terwisscha van Scheltinga AD, Lunn NJ. 2013. Future sea ice conditions in Western Hudson Bay and consequences for polar bears in the 21st century. Glob Change Biol. 19(9):2675–2687. doi:10.1111/gcb.12272.

Cherry SG, Derocher AE, Thiemann GW, Lunn NJ. 2013. Migration phenology and seasonal fidelity of an Arctic marine predator in relation to sea ice dynamics. J Anim Ecol. 82(4):912–921. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12050.

Cherry SG, Derocher AE, and Lunn NJ. 2016. Habitat-mediated timing of migration in polar bears: an individual perspective. Ecol Evol n/a-n/a.

Clark DA, Brook R, Oliphant-Reskanski C, Laforge MP, Olson K, Rivet D. 2019. Novel range overlap of three ursids in the Canadian subarctic. Arctic Science. 5(1):62–70. doi:10.1139/as-2018-0013.

Clubb, R. and S. Vickery 2006. Locomotory stereotypies in carnivores: does pacing stem from hunting, ranging or frustrated escape? In: Stereotypic Animal Behavior: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare. CAB International, Oxfordshire UK and Cambridge MA, USA. pp. 58-85.

Cronin, M. A., S. C. Armstrup, G. W. Garner, and E. R. Vyse. 1991. Interspecific and intraspecific mitochondrial DNA variation in North American bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69(12):2985-2992.

Cronin MA, Rincon G, Meredith RW, MacNeil MD, Islas-Trejo A, Cánovas A, Medrano JF. 2014. Molecular phylogeny and SNP variation of polar bears (Ursus maritimus), brown bears (U. arctos), and black bears (U. americanus) derived from genome sequences. Journal of Heredity. 105(3):312–323. doi:10.1093/jhered/est133.

Cushing, B., N. Cushing, C. Jonkel 1988. Polar bear responses to the underwater vocalizations of ringed seals. Polar Biology 1988:123-124.

DeMaster, D. P., and I. Stirling. 1981. Ursus maritimus. Mammalian Species, (145):1- 7.

Derocher, A. E. 1999. Latitudinal variation in litter size of polar bears: ecology or methodology? Polar Biol 22, 350–356.

Derocher AE, Andersen M, Wiig Ø. 2005. Sexual dimorphism of polar bears. Journal of Mammalogy. 86(5):895–901. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2005)86[895:SDOPB]2.0.CO;2.

Derocher, A. E. 2010. Personal communication.

Derocher, A. E. 2012. Polar bears: a complete guide to their biology and behavior. Baltimate (MD): Johns Hopkins University Press.

Derocher, A. E., and I. Stirling. 1990. Observations of aggregating behaviour in adult male polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 68(7):1390-1394.

Derocher, A. E., Nelson, R., I. Stirling, M. Ramsay 1990. Effects of fasting and feeding on serum urea and serum creatinine levels in polar bears. Marine Mammal Science 6:196-203.

Derocher, A. E., I. Stirling, and D. Andriashek. 1992. Pregnancy rates and serum progesterone levels of polar bears in Western Hudson Bay. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 70(3):561-566.

Derocher, A. E., and I. Stirling. 1992. The population dynamics of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. In: D. R. McCullough and R. H. Barrett, eds. Wildlife 2001: Populations, p.1150-1159. London: Elsevier Applied Science, Ltd.

Derocher, A. E., D. Andriashek, and  J.P. Y. Arnould. 1993. Aspects of milk composition and lactation in polar bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 71(3):561-567.

Derocher AE, Andersen M, Wiig Ø, Aars J. 2010. Sexual dimorphism and the mating ecology of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. 64(6):939–946. doi:10.1007/s00265-010-0909-0.

Derocher, A. E., D. Andriashek, and I. Stirling. 1993. Terrestrial foraging by polar bears during the ice-free period in western Hudson Bay. Arctic, 46(3):251-254.

Derocher, A. E., and I.Stirling. 1994. Age-specific reproductive performance of female polar bears (Ursus maritimus) Journal of Zoology, 234(4):527-536.

Derocher, A. E., N. Lunn, I. Stirling 2004. Polar bears in a warming climate. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44:163-176.

Derocher, A. M. Anderson,Øystein Whg 2005. Sexual dimorphism of polar bears. Journal of Mammalogy 86(5):895-901.

Dietz, R., Rigét, F.F., Sonne, C., Born, E.W., Bechshøft, T., McKinney, M.A. and Letcher, R.J. 2013a. Three decades (1983-2010) of contaminant trends in east Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Part 1: Legacy organochlorine contaminants. Environment International 59: 485-493.

Dietz, R., Rigét, F.F., Sonne, C., Born, E.W., Bechshøft, T., McKinney, M.A., Drimmie, R.J., Muir, D.C.G., and Letcher, R.J. 2013b. Three decades (1983-2010) of contaminant trends in east Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Part 2: Brominated flame retardant . Environment International 59: 494-500.

Dominique M, Letcher RJ, Rutter A, Langlois VS. 2020. Comparative review of the distribution and burden of contaminants in the body of polar bears. Environ Sci Pollut Res. 27(26):32456–32466. doi:10.1007/s11356-020-09193-2.

Dowsley, M. 2007. Inuit perspectives on polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and climate change in Baffin Bay, Nunavut, Canada [PDF]. Research and Practice in Social Sciences 2(2):53-74.

Durner, G. M., S. C. Amstrup, and K. J. Ambrosius. 2006. Polar bear maternal den habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska. Arctic 59(1): 31-36 (March 2006).

Durner GM, Whiteman JP, Harlow HJ, Amstrup SC, Regehr EV, Ben-David M. 2011. Consequences of long-distance swimming and travel over deep-water pack ice for a female polar bear during a year of extreme sea ice retreat. Polar Biol. 34(7):975–984. doi:10.1007/s00300-010-0953-2.

Durner GM, Douglas DC, Albeke SE, Whiteman JP, Amstrup SC, Richardson E, Wilson RR, Ben‐David M. 2017. Increased Arctic sea ice drift alters adult female polar bear movements and energetics. Glob Change Biol. 23(9):3460–3473. doi:10.1111/gcb.13746.

Durner GM, Douglas DC, Atwood AC. 2019. Polar bear distribution and habitat resource selection data, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 1985-2016. Ecology and Evolution 9(15): 8625–8638. doi:10.5066/P9ZRJ3XU.

Dyck M, Regehr EV, Ware JV. 2023. Demographic assessment using physical and genetic sampling finds stable polar bear subpopulation in Gulf of Boothia, Canada. Marine Mammal Science. 39(1):151–174. doi:10.1111/mms.12968.

Dyck MG, Romberg S. 2007. Observations of a wild polar bear (Ursus maritimus) successfully fishing Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and Fourhorn sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis). Polar Biol. 30(12):1625–1628. doi:10.1007/s00300-007-0338-3.

Farley, S.D., and C. T. Robbins. 1994. Development of two methods to estimate body composition of bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 72(2):220-226.

Ferguson S. H., M. K. Taylor, E. W. Born, A. Rosing-Asvid, and F. Messier. 1999. Determinants of home range size for polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Ecology Letters 2:311–318. doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.1999.00090.x.

Ferguson, S., M. Taylor, A. Rosing-Asvid, E. Born, F. Messier 2000. Relationships between denning of polar bears and conditions of sea ice. Journal of Mammalogy 81(4):1118-1127.

Fischbach, A. S., S. C. Amstrup, and D. C. Douglas. 2007. Landward and eastward shift of Alaskan polar bear denning associated with recent sea-ice changes. Polar Biology 30:1395–1405.

Florko KRN, Thiemann GW, Bromaghin JF, Richardson ES. 2021. Diet composition and body condition of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in relation to sea ice habitat in the Canadian High Arctic. Polar Biol. 44(7):1445–1456. doi:10.1007/s00300-021-02891-8.

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Forthman, D. L. et al. 1992. Effects of feeding enrichment on behavior of three species of captive bears. Zoo Biology, 11 (3):187-195.
 

Galicia MP, Thiemann GW, Dyck MG, Ferguson SH. 2015. Characterization of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) diets in the Canadian High Arctic. Polar Biol. 38(12):1983–1992. doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1757-1.

Galicia MP, Thiemann GW, Dyck MG, Ferguson SH, Higdon JW. 2016. Dietary habits of polar bears in Foxe Basin, Canada: possible evidence of a trophic regime shift mediated by a new top predator. Ecol Evol. 6(16):6005–6018. doi:10.1002/ece3.2173.

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