Remote identification of polar bear maternal den habitat in northern Alaska
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Abstract
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) give birth in dens of ice and snow to protect their altricial young. During the snow-free season, we visited 25 den sites located previously by radiotelemetry and characterized the den site physiognomy. Seven dens occurred in habitats with minimal relief. Eighteen dens (72%) were in coastal and river banks. These "banks" were identifiable on aerial photographs. We then searched high-resolution aerial photographs (n=3000) for habitats similar to those of the 18 dens. On aerial photos, we mapped 1782 km of bank habitats suitable for denning. Bank habitats comprised 0.18% of our study area between the Colville River and the Tamayariak River in northern Alaska. The final map, which correctly identified 88% of bank denning habitat in this region, will help minimize the potential for disruptions of maternal dens by winter petroleum exploration activities.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Remote identification of polar bear maternal den habitat in northern Alaska |
| Series title | Arctic |
| DOI | 10.14430/arctic770 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2001 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Arctic Institute of North America |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center |
| Description | 7 p. |
| First page | 115 |
| Last page | 121 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |