image: This is a brown bear family on a ridge. view more
Credit: Lisa Hupp (photographer)
Researchers estimate that overlap between sockeye salmon spawning and red elderberry ripening seasons on Kodiak Island, Alaska increased on average between 1961 and 2015 with increasing temperatures, and data from GPS-collared bears, aerial bear counts, time-lapse camera bear counts, and bear fecal surveys together suggested that the bears departed salmon streams to consume red elderberries and that climate change-induced overlap between food resources can alter food webs, according to a study.
Article 17-05248: "Phenological synchronization disrupts trophic interactions between Kodiak brown bears and salmon," by William W. Deacy et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: William W. Deacy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; tel: 816-213-0143; e-mail: <will.deacy@gmail.com>
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences