New research finds grizzly bears living in Alberta Canada are helped by global warming, and commotion in the forest Science Codex reported Monday.
"Understanding variations in body size helps us understand what limits grizzly populations," Scott Nielsen assistant professor in the University of Alberta's department of renewable resources told Science Codex. "We hypothesize that warmer temperatures in this ecosystem, especially during late winter and spring, may not be such a bad thing for grizzlies. That suggests the species won't likely be limited by rising temperatures which would lengthen the growing season and the time needed to fatten prior to hibernation. The diversity of stand ages in the landscape has a positive influence on body condition because bears are better able to access a wide range of food sources."
Scientists supervised 112 grizzly bears in Alberta's Rocky Mountains for 10 years finding that the bears were able to add fat to their bodies in order to augment mothers' opportunity to multiply their baby count.
Scientists found the bear's body size was bigger as adults when the temperatures were warmer, and spring followed snow in the middle of winter. Scientists also found smaller bears lived in environments that were colder than normal Science Codex reported. Bears who lived in forest areas with several disturbances were more healthy.
The results might assist those who create harvest designs for forest in upgrading grizzly bears habitat. The findings are in the BMC Ecology science journal.
Alberta grizzly bears are considered an endangered species. Seven hundred and fifty species of the bears currently live in the canadian province. Fifty percent of them are adults.
"We get clues about the environments that most suit grizzlies by examining basic health measures such as body size," Nielsen told Science Codex. A simple rule is, the fatter the bear, the better. Certain environments promote fatter bears."
