The tiny town of Churchill, situated on a peninsula jutting into the Western Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada, has become the window through which scientists and tourists watched the seemingly hopeless decline of the polar bear. For years, the melt of sea ice in the summer has driven polar bears off of their normal habitat and onto land, where they have wander the empty tundra surrounding Churchill and occasionally stroll past borders of the town itself. As global temperatures rise, sea ice covers Hudson Bay for an increasingly short time, leaving bears with a smaller window to hunt seals and a longer time onshore with little to eat. Yet the bears have an unlikely ally in the Churchill tundra: the snow goose. Snow geese have been migrating to the Churchill peninsula for centuries. However, human development of old habitats, such as marshes, in southern regions has driven the geese in larger and larger amounts to the peninsula of late. Breeding pairs of the species on Churchill peninsula have jumped from 2,500 pairs in 1969 to 75,000 today. The arrival of more and more snow geese has been accompanied by disastrous results for the Churchill tundra, with hungry birds eating and trampling huge patches of grass into mud. …show more content…
Bears have been observed eating both the birds and their eggs, which provide a rich and welcome influx of vitamins and proteins. Studies of polar bear scat have found that polar bears consume much more geese, eggs, berries, and caribou today than they did in years past, supplementing the fat stores gained from winter seal hunts with terrestrial food to survive the warming summers. Bears are also not alone in their love of eggs; researchers have observed cranes, eagles, foxes, and wolves raiding the snow goose
Isle Royal is located fifty-six miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. It is the largest wilderness area in Michigan (USNPS, 2014). The island is surrounded by Lake Superior, which creates a cooler temperature. This results in arctic plant species growth on the island. There are only eighteen mammal species present on the island because most mammals cannot make the trip across the frozen great lake (USNPS, 2014). The need for an ice bridge is not the only environmental factor that is stopping the migration of animals; there is also the severe cold, and also wind and fog (Vucetich, 2012). Some species such as caribou and coyote have found the island to be too intense and have gone extinct (Vucetich, 2012). Due to the harsh weather and isolation of the island, humans have never regularly lived on the island (Vucetich, 2012). Some of species that are present such as the red squirrel are becoming their own subspecies due to its separation from the mainland (USNPS, 2014). The isolation of Isle Royal is what makes it a great place to conduct research, it has very low human interaction and the species that are on the island will have been and continue to be isolated from the mainland.
The habitat is also made up of trees with nuts and bushes with berries. Black Bears are omnivores so they eat these along with other small animals. They are opportunist when it comes to food. Mostly bears eat vegetation during the spring but they will eat mainly anything they encounter. During the summer the bears eat salmon out of the rivers if they can catch it. If they can’t catch any they mainly survive off of berries, mainly blueberries, ants, grubs, and other insects. In the fall their diet starts to shift and they start to save up food for winter. They are also known to eat newborn moose calves during the winter when food is scarce.
The Arctic region is home to a variety of valuable animals and plants, including polar bear, seal, and so on. The ecosystem of the Arctic region is fragile because these animals are evolved to live in extreme conditions. With the climate change, many animals are endangered. Ice is the habitat of polar animals because they have to rely on sea ices for resting, food, and reproduction. With the climate change and the decrease of sea ice, the number of polar animals is decreasing and their health is threatened. For example, the average weight of female polar bears in 1980 was about 650 pounds, but the number reduced to about 500 pounds in 2004 (Djoghlaf 15). The earlier breakup and later condensation of sea ice shortens the hunting season of polar bears. Polar bears mainly feed on seals that indwell icy land. The melting ice reduces the number of seals and food intake of polar bears. In addition, polar bears are used to living in ice caves. The rising temperature causes the collapse of ice caves, which can kill baby bears. The climate change is negatively affecting the biodiversity in the region and will definitely harm the ecosystem
they are at the top of the food chain of the grassland plants and animals. Grizzly bears are powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also
Out of an Ice Age emerged one of our most majestic creatures in the world the polar bear. From its brown bear ancestry, the predator evolved to be a master of a harsh and unwelcoming ice kingdom. Intelligent, adaptable and fierce, the polar bear learned how to survive in a place that offers few comforts to any creature. But now that very environment is in flux. And so is the polar bear’s fate (Nature). Polar Bears are very different from other bears. Polar bears are very large bears compared to Black bears. Polar bears weigh anywhere between 330-1700lbs and Black bears weigh anywhere between 150-600lbs. They have strong legs with large, flattened feet with some webbing between their toes that help with walking on ice and swimming. The wide paws prevent sea ice from breaking by distributing weight while walking. Their paws allow them to pull a 600 pound seal out of its breathing hole (Rosing, 20). The webbed feet results in making polar bears, unlike other bear species to be considered as marine mammals along with seals, sea lions, walruses, whales and dolphins (Polar Bear). According to Rosing Polar bears are excellent swimmers and have been known to swim up to six miles an hour and as far as 60 miles at a stretch. The bears paddle with their front feet and steer with their back feet. They often overheat. Sometimes they venture into the waters just to cool off. When a bear climbs on an ice floe, it shakes itself off because it is trying to prevent ice from forming on its fur (22-23). Because of climate change and hunting of polar bears are now becoming an endangered species which is affecting the food chain. We can fix this by going green, banning polar bear hunting and keep creating these new hybrid bears that are mixed with griz...
animals such as the polar bear, to mate and to prepare for the once again
Canada’s arctic has evidently suffered from substantial climate change, resulting in devastating impacts on all systems in the north. Many climate models indicate that these significant changes will only progress in the future. The monitoring of temperatures in the Arctic have demonstrated that, over roughly the past 50 years, there has been a warming of about 2 to 3°C as of 2009. The average temperature in the arctic has increased almost twice as fast than the rest of the world. In 2020, the projected increase is up to 4°C as well as 8°C by 2050. A numbers of studies have shown that, based on previous climate records, there has been issues of rising sea levels, alterations in sea-ice dynamics, and permafrost degradation. Though there have been multiple strategies posed and adopted, the government of Canada needs to develop an arctic strategy that is more proactive and systemic than previous actions. This strategy needs to be global in its goals for mitigation while still monitoring social, cultural, and economic aspects
To begin with, the melting of polar ice caps has caused polar bears to swim long distances. According to Bryan Walsh of TIME Magazine the melting of the ice caps have caused polar bears especially the young cubs to swim longer distances which has caused a “ forty-five percent mortality rate” (Walsh). In the article Walsh, writes about a study that showed that younger cubs because of low fat and strength were more likely to die due to the long di...
My goal is to have a proposed method in how farmers in the United States of America can change their agriculture practices to help benefit waterfowl on their migration, and to help address the issue of agriculture practices benefiting the overpopulation of snow geese as discussed in K.F. Abrahams article, High goose populations: causes, impacts and implications (Abrahams 1997). I also would like to have multiple methods to increase the amount of wetlands we have, and how to revert some of the destroyed wetlands to increase the amount of area waterfowl have to breed in. I would like to have a improved strategy on the methods of controlling the overpopulation of snow geese discussed in Arnaud Bechets article titled, Spring hunting changes the regional movements of migrating greater snow geese where she discusses how the spring season can cause a shift in snow goose migration (Arnaud 2003). Another large aspect I would like to discuss is addressed in Brett E. Doraks study about geese in winter and autumn in the metropolitan Chicago area that waterfowl, primarily geese, are utilizing cities to live in, and remain untouched (Dorak 2017). Through the research in the study, they
Back in 1904, There was a guy named Jack Miner that started a Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. This was a place for ducks to migrate. It was located in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. In 1931, It was established in the United states, and in 1936, In canada to continue the legacy of Jack Miner. The jack Miner foundation was one of the most popular migration places for ducks. When spring came here in the United States, The ducks would all go back up north to canada to this Refuge. (“The Jack Miner Migratory Bird
The Alaskan moose are located between 60 and 70 degrees latitude in Alaska and Western Yukon. They reside in boreal forests which is an area “dominated by coniferous forests, particularly spruce, interspersed with vast wetlands, mostly bogs and fens”. and mixed woodlands which consist of both coniferous and deciduous trees where there are many fallen trees and much debris. This region receives very harsh winters, the ground is covered with snow and temperatures fall as low as −60 °F or -51.1 °C and so by early spring food is very scarce. As the warmer temperatures of late spring and summer arrive food becomes plentiful as shoots, grass and leaves begin to grow. Summer temperatures can reach as high as 90 °F or 34 °C, while precipitation in this region can range from 10 inches to 100 inches of rain per year. This mostly comes in the form of snow.
Volume 21. Connecticut: Grolier Inc, 1998. Simpson, George Gaylord. Penguins: Past and Present, Here and There. New Haven, Connecticut:
Walrus’s adaptations to survive in the cold are their tusks, blubber, and eating two times a day, which keeps them alive. The walrus’s most important survival tools are their tusks. Walruses live in the Arctic Region. Walruses can live on ice floes for a long period of time. When walruses migrate they start at the Chuckcki Sea and end at the Bering Sea. Unlike birds, female walruses do not lay eggs they give live birth. Walrus’s average life span is forty years, unless humans or natural enemies hunt them.
The polar bear rarely eats plants. That is why it is considered a carnivore, or meat-eater. The ringed seal is the polar bear's primary prey. A polar bear hunts a seal by waiting quietly for it to emerge from an opening a seal makes in the ice allowing them to breathe or climb out of the water to rest. Polar bears eat only the seal's skin and blubber of the seal. The remaining meat provides a food source for other animals in the Arctic.
The polar regions are most affected and vulnerable to the warming temperatures because the poles are covered in ice. The world’s ice sheets are melting faster than ever and temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as anywhere else on Earth according to the NRDC. This will have a serious impact on people, wildlife and plants in that region. The National Climate Assessment has said that “By the year 2100, it 's estimated our oceans will be one to four feet higher, threatening coastal systems and low-lying areas, including entire island nations and the world 's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami as well as Mumbai, Sydney, and Rio de Janeiro”. Polar bears are in great threat as the ice sheets melt because they use the ice to travel across the land and hunt. As the sea-ice platforms move further apart, the swimming conditions become more dangerous. The U.S Geological Survey done by the National Wildlife Federation predicts that by the year 2050, two thirds of all polar bears will disappear. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the Adelie penguins in Antarctica and reported the numbers have fallen from 32,000 to only 11,000 over the last 30