Foxe Basin Polar Bear Project 2009 Interim Report

Transcription

1 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 FoxeBasinPolarBearProject 2009InterimReport November29,2009 ElizabethPeacock VickiSahanatien SethStapleton AndrewDerocher DavidGarshelis WildlifeResearchSection DepartmentofEnvironment GovernmentofNunavut Igloolik,Nunavut CanadaX0A 0L0 PROJECTPERSONNEL Dr. Elizabeth Peacock, Wildlife Research Section, Department of Environment, GovernmentofNunavut 1 VickiSahanatien,DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,UniversityofAlberta SethStapleton,DepartmentofFisheries,WildlifeandConservationBiology,Universityof Minnesota Dr. David L. Garshelis, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, UniversityofMinnesota Dr.AndrewE.Derocher,DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,UniversityofAlberta 1 Currentaffiliation,ResearchWildlifeBiologist,USGS,Anchorage,Alaska,USA. 1

2 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 EXECUTIVESUMMARY(availableinInuktituttranslation) This report summarizes progress on the Foxe Basin Polar Bear Project from November 2008 to November2009. Springtime fieldwork was conducted in the Foxe Basin polar bear management zone or subpopulation(fb)inapril2009.thepurposeofthisworkwasto1)evaluatetheusefulnessof springtime aerial surveys for abundance estimation of polar bears; and 2) retrieve dropped satellitecollars;and3)searchforrfidtags.weultimatelyretrievedallcollarsthatdroppedoff bearsonland(11).ninehaddroppedoffbearsbecauseamanufacturer smalfunctionand2had slippedoffbecausetheywerefittooloose.wedeterminedthataspringtimeaerialsurveyonice would be much less efficient and provide less accurate information compared to an autumn aerial survey in FB. The springtime work was plagued with poor sighting probability and a low encounterrate,asthereislowpolarbeardensityacrossalargeexpanseofavailablehabitat;we flew 17,000 km and sighted 16 polar bears. In contrast, during the autumn when the vast majorityofbearsareonlandinfb,lowtopographylandresultsinhighsightingprobability,and theconcentrationofpolarbearsonlandincreasesencounterrates.inspring2009,werelocated zeroofthe32rfidtagsavailable(1rfidtaghadalreadybeenharvested)during31helicopter hours. Themainobjectivesoftheautumn2009fieldseasonwereto1)conductacomprehensiveaerial surveyforpopulationestimationofpolarbearsinfb;and2)deploy25satellitecollarsonpolar bearsinthefbforresearchonpopulationdelineationandhabitatecology.initialplanswereto conduct a mark recapture study for estimation of population parameters (annual survival, abundanceandstatus);thegndidnotpermitthisprojectin2008and2009,becauseofconcerns from some communities regarding the immobilization of polar bears. As a result, estimation of annual survival, population status and a total allowable harvest (TAH), based on formulae dictated in the Polar Bear Research and Management Memoranda of Understanding with Nunavutcommunities,arenolongerobjectivesoftheFoxeBasinPolarBearProject. Autumnfieldworkwasconductedfrom13Augustto2October2009ontheHudsonBayshoreof Nunavik(northern Quebec), islands in Hudson Strait, northern Hudson Strait west of Kimmirut, thefoxepeninsula,allislands,coastalregionsinfoxebasinproper,southtochesterfieldinlet. WebasedoutofthecommunitiesofPuvirnituq,Ivujivik,Salluit,Kimmirut,CapeDorset,cabinsat NikkuandBrayislands,Igloolik,RepulseBay,ChesterfieldInletandCoralHarbour.Wedeployed satellitecollarson24adultfemalesandsatelliteeartagon1adultmale.biologicalsamplesand measurementswerecollectedfromallimmobilizedpolarbears.thedistributionof2009collars complementsthe2007and2008distribution,resultinginageographicallyrepresentativesample ofinformationtobeusedforpopulationdelineationandhabitatanalyses. Intheautumnof2009,wealsocompletedacomprehensiveland basedaerialsurvey throughoutfb.weemployedacombinationofcoastal contour andinlandtransects,aswellas totalcountsonasampleofsmallislands.wecoveredapproximately50%ofthecoastduring ourcontourtransects.becausepolarbearsconcentratealongthecoastduringthelate 2

3 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 summer,ice freeseason,wedividedthe inland studyareaintohighdensity(landwithin5km ofthecoast),lowdensity(land5 15kmfromthecoast),andverylow density(land15 50km fromthecoast)strata.stratadelineationwasbasedonsatellitetaggingdatacollectedinfoxe Basinduring Weallocatedoursamplingeffortsuchthattransectswere concentratedinthehighdensity,coastalstratum.samplingprotocolsenabledustocollect bothdistancesamplinganddoubleobserver(sight resight)datafromthehelicopterplatform. Duringthe7 weeksurveyperiod,weflewmorethan40,000km(includingferries)acrossfb. Werecorded814bears,including616independent(i.e.,adultandsubadult)bears.Analyses, whichwillincludecomparisonamongmultipleanalyticaltechniques,areinprogress.we anticipateobtainingapopulationestimateforfbinspring2010andwillrecommendtechnique modificationsforthe2010aerialsurveyinfb. AnoriginalintentoftheFoxeBasinPolarBearProjectwasalsototestanddevelopRadio FrequencyIdentification(RFID)eartags.Thesetagscouldbeusedtoreducetheneedto recaptureanimalsduringmark recapturestudies;theintentwastodevelopresearchtechniques thataremoreacceptabletotheinuitpublic.weintendedtodeploy300rfidtags,asamplesize sufficient,duetotherelativetotheabundanceofpolarbearsinfb,toascertaintheretention anddetectionofthetags.however,wewereonlyabletodeploy55tagsin2008and2009, becausethemark recaptureportionoftheresearchwascancelled.in2009,wehadtheabilityto searchforthe32tagsdeployedin2008.ourtestsindicatethatrfidtagsaredetectableat4km at1,000ftabove ground altitude(agl)or1kmat400ftagl.werelocated6ofthe31tags. Threetagswerefoundtobefirmlyattachedtoears,withnoinfection(1intheharvest,2during 2009surveyactivities);2remainingtagswereshedandlocatedduringautumnfieldeffortin 2009.Wedeployedanadditional23RFIDtagsonalladult,subadultandyearlingpolarbears captured,in2009. In wecontinuedanalysisusingsatellitecollarandeartaglocationinformationto explorepolarbearmovementsandmulti scalehabitatselection.atthelandscapescalewe conductedapreliminaryanalysisofhabitatselectionbasedontheseaiceconcentration,age andfloesizeasdescribedbythecanadianiceservicemaps.thiswillbethefirstanalysisofthis typecompletedforpolarbearsthatliveinseasonalseaicepopulations,whereicedoesnot remaininsummermonths.significantprogresswasmadeindevelopinganewmethodfor quantifyingfine scalehabitatselectionbyusingsarimageryofseaice;sarimageryisavailable duringdarkmonthsandondayswithcloudcover.thismethodwillhaveapplication throughoutthearcticandwillbeusefulformanyseaicedependentspecies.wepresentthese preliminaryanalysesinthisreport. Wepresentmovementmetricsforbothmaleandfemalepolarbearsfor :home rangesize;movementrates;anddistancetravelled.inthissecondyearofstudyweobserved geographicdifferencesinhomerangesizesoffbbearsusinghudsonbayandfoxebasin, effectsofsmallislandsonmovementsduringtheopen waterseason,andsexdifferencesin movements.interestingly,wefoundthatfemaleswithcubstravelledfurtherthanthefour adultmalesthatwetaggedin

4 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Existingcollections(IgloolikOralHistoryProject,ParksCanadaOralHistoryProject,HudsonBay Program)ofInuitQaujimajaiugangit(IQ)werereviewedin2006and2007butlittleinformation about polar bear habitat use and distribution was found. We collected new IQ on polar bear habitat use in 2009 from elders and hunters across FB in 33 individual interviews and 2 focus groups. INTRODUCTION TheDepartmentofEnvironment(DOE)oftheGovernmentofNunavut(GN)isresponsibleforthe managementandconservationofpolarbear(ursusmaritimus)populationswithinitsjurisdiction. ThisresponsibilityisoutlinedintheNunavutLandClaimsAgreement(NLCA,1993).Further,the federal government entrusts the Nunavut Territory and other polar bear jurisdictions within CanadawiththefulfillmentoftheInternationalAgreementoftheProtectionofPolarBearsand their Habitat, ratified in This task traditionally involves periodic population inventories, which are comprised of geographic delineation and estimation of demographic parameters including birth and death rates, population size and status. With this information, the GN recommends the Total Allowable Harvest (TAH) for the population to the Nunavut Wildlife ManagementBoard(NWMB).Inaddition,undertheNLCA,theGNisrequiredtomanagewildlife under the principles of conservation; climate change and its consequences for polar bears has beenhighlightedasaconservationconcern,andthereforeasubstantivepartofthefoxebasin Polar Bear Project includes research on polar bear habitat ecology. Finally, as indicated in the NLCA (1993), our research and management system must take into consideration unique perspectiveandtraditionalknowledgeoftheinuit;ourprojectincorporatessignificanteffortsto systematicallycollectinuitqaujimajaiugangit(iq)ofpolarbearsinfb. The Foxe Basin polar bear management zone or subpopulation (FB; Figure 1) has received relativelylittlerecentresearchattention(lunnetal.1987,tayloretal.1990,tayloretal.2006b). No population boundary delineation using satellite telemetry (Taylor et al. 2001) has occurred anddemographicrateshavenotbeenestimated.fbiscurrentlydefinedasboundedinthesouth by northern Hudson Bay, western Baffin Island, the Fury and Hecla Straits and the Melville Peninsula and covers approximately 1.1 million km 2. Seven communities in Nunavut (Kimmirut (10), Cape Dorset(10), Igloolik(10), Hall Beach(8), Repulse Bay(12), Chesterfield Inlet(8) and Repulse Bay(12)) harvest polar bears from FB(TAH in parentheses). Polar bears in FB are also harvestedbycommunitiesinnunavik(northernquebec;puvirnituq,akulivik,ivujivikandsalluit) atacombinedrangeof0 7polarbearsperyearfrom TheharvestinQuebecis neitherregulatednorconsistentlymonitored. ThemeanpopulationsizeforpolarbearsinFBfrom1989to1994wasestimatedtobe2,197± 260SE(Tayloretal.2006b).Inrecentyears,localknowledgeinNunavutindicatedanincreasein polarbearnumbers,resultinginanincreaseinthe2005nunavuttahfrom97to106polarbears, whichwasconsideredsustainablewithapopulationestimatedat2,300bears. PopulationDelineationandInventory 4

5 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 The Foxe Basin Polar Bear Project includes several components to address the management mandate for polar bears in FB. Science based population delineation will assist in the recommendation of distribution of harvest quotas across the Hudson Bay complex. Hitherto, boundarydelineationofpolarbearsubpopulationshasusedsatelliteinformationcollectedfrom adult females, because the circumference of necks of adult males is too large to wear collars. Advancements in technology show promise (E. Born, personal communication; Peacock et al. 2008)forasatelliteeartag(MikkelVellumJensen,DenmarkandWildlifeComputersInc.,USA)to collectdataonmalepolarbearmovement.ourdatafromfivemalepolarbearswillbeusedin additiontothedataonfemalemovementfordelineationandhabitatanalyses. A second crucial part of population inventory for the establishment of TAH is a population inventory, which traditionally encapsulates estimation of population size, birth and death rates (Peacock 2009). With these demographic figures, we can then use population viability analyses (PVA) to estimate population growth rate, or status (stable, increasing, decreasing) of the population. TAH has historically been set to maximize harvest opportunities for the Inuit of Nunavut, and is set such that the population is managed to be stable. In order to maximize harvest,themark recapturemethodhasbeenusedtoestimateprecise(confident)andaccurate (lowbias)populationparameters(tayloretal.2002,tayloretal.2006a,2008,2009).in2008and 2009,theDOEdidnotpermitamark recapturestudyduetocommunityconcernsregardingthe physicalcaptureofpolarbears.assuch,wewillnotbeestimatingsurvivalratesinorstatusoffb. WerecommendthattheDOEinvestigatealternativemeasurestoestablishascience basedtah. ThereisbroadsupportwithintheDOE,NWMBandcommunitiesforwildliferesearch,whichdoes not involve chemical immobilization of wildlife. In deference to Inuit Societal Values, we are developingandhaveimplementedaless invasiveaerialsurveymethodforpopulationestimation ofpolarbears.in2008weconductedapilotstudytooutlinethemethods(mcdonaldetal.1999, Bucklandetal.2001,Peacocketal.2008)neededfortheaerialsurveys.Herewereportonthe comprehensive2009aerialsurvey. We also report summary zoological statistics of polar bears caught during the Foxe Basin Polar BearProjectaspartofthepopulationdelineationandhabitatecologyprojects,asitislikelythat no more capture will occur in FB for the foreseeable future. We provide summarized data on recruitment and body metrics, which can be used for comparisons to different timeframes and othersubpopulations,andpossiblyinapva.finally,aproposedobjectiveofthefoxebasinpolar bear project was to develop the use of RFID technology to reduce the need to recapture polar bears in mark recapture studies. We had proposed to deploy 300 RFID tags, a sample size sufficient to determine retention rates, given the large size of the polar bear population in FB. Here we report on the progress of a much reduced initiative, in which 55 RFID tags have been deployed. HabitatEcology TheGNDOEmustmanagepolarbearsinthecontextanduncertaintyofclimatechange,given theirmandateunderthenlca(1993).theeffectsofclimatechangehavebeenmanifestedin 5

6 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 decreasedsurvivalandnatality,anddeclinesinbodyconditionofpolarbearsinsouthern(sh) andwesternhudsonbay(wh;stirlingetal.1999,derocheretal.2004,stirlingetal.2004, Obbardetal.2007)andtheBeaufortSea(Regehretal.2006,Rodeetal.inpress).Thechangesin demographicratesinwesternhudsonbayhaveresultedinadecreasefrom1200to935bears overthelast20years(lunnetal.1997,regehretal.2007).thedecreaseinpopulationsizeand healthismostoftenattributedtochangingiceconditions(stirlingetal.1999,regehretal.2007). Polarbearsandtheirpreyaredependentontheseaiceandthusarevulnerabletoclimate change.thepotentialeffectsofreductionsinseaiceonpolarbearsaremany:survival; reproductivesuccess;increasedenergyexpendituresanddistribution.usingthefieldeffort associatedwithpopulationdelineationweproposetoaddressseasonalmovementandice habitatselectionofpolarbears. Seaiceextent,thicknessanddurationhavebeendecliningthroughouttheCanadianArctic (SerrezeandRigor2006,IPCC2007,ParkinsonandCavalieri2008).Theeffectsofchanging habitatavailability,increasinghabitatfragmentation,timingoffreeze upandbreakup, proportionsofannualandmulti yearseaiceonicedependentspeciesareofincreasingconcern (BlumandGradinger2007,Laidreetal.2008,Durneretal.2009).TheseaiceextentofHudson BayandFoxeBasinandthedurationoficeseasonhavedeclined;thedeclinesareattributedto climatechange(goughetal.2004,gagnonandgough2005,moore2006,stirlingandparkinson 2006).Further,wehavedocumentedachangeinpolarbearicehabitatinFoxeBasinfrom1979 to2006(sahanatienandderocher2007).futureclimatechangeeffectsonpolarbearhabitat, distributionandpopulationsareprojectedtobemostpronouncedinregionsofseasonalseaice (BaffinBay(BB),DavisStrait(DS),FB,WHandSH;Derocheretal.2004,Amstrupetal.2007). HerewereportonourprogressonourstudiesonchangesinFBseaiceoverthepast25years, sea icehabitatmodelingofpolarbearsandmovementstudiesofpolarbearsinfb. InuitQaujimajaiugangit IntheFoxeBasinPolarBearProjectweareusingInuitknowledge,InuitQaujimajaiugangit(IQ),in severalimportantways.generallyandinformally,weuselocalknowledgeandiqtodesignour studies,implementfieldworkandinterpretresults.morespecifically,weareincorporatingiqor TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge(TEK)frominterviewsintoourhabitatmodelingandtostratify ouraerialsurveys.intermsofourhabitatmodeling,weareaddressingtherelationshipsofpolar bearmovementtoseaiceconditionsusingbothtekandscience(seesectiononhabitatecology). Sea ice habitat conditions experienced by polar bears will change with climate warming, potentially negatively affecting population status and Inuit harvest levels. A new approach for incorporatingtekinresearchwillbeexploredbyusingtektoinform,createandcompare3 rd orderhabitatselectionmodels.foxebasinandhudsonbayoralhistorycollectionsandreportsof TEK of polar bears were reviewed and little information related to sea ice habitat, habitat use, andmovementswerefound.thus,wefounditnecessarytocollectnewiqasapartofthefoxe BasinPolarBearProject. PROJECTOBJECTIVES 6

7 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 I. Population Delineation. To geographically delineate the Foxe Basin polar bear population ( ). II. PopulationInventory.( ). a. estimatepopulationsizeusingphysicalmark recaptureandaerialsurvey WEREPORTONLYONPROGRESSREGARDINGTHEAERIALSURVEY,ASMARK RECAPTUREWASNOTPERMITED b. developaneffectiveaerialsurveymethodforpopulationestimation c. provide quantitative comparative assessment of the two methods for population estimation ASMARK RECAPTUREWASNOTPERMITTED,THISOBJECTIVEWILLNOTBEMET d. estimatesurvivalandrecruitment ASMARK RECAPTUREWASNOTPERMITTED,THISOBJECTIVEWILLNOTBEMET e. estimatepopulationstatus(trend) ASMARK RECAPTUREWASNOTPERMITTED,THISOBJECTIVEWILLNOTBEMET f. determinetotalallowableharvest(tah) AS MARK RECAPTURE WAS NOT PERMITTED, THIS OBJECTIVE WILL NOT BE MET UNTIL NEW GUIDELINES ARE CREATEDFORDETERMININGTAHWITHOUTSTATUSINFORMATION. III. HabitatEcology.ToinvestigatemovementandhabitatselectionofFoxeBasinpolarbearsas relatedtoiceconditions( ). IV. InuitQaujimajaiugangit.TocollectandincludeIQinthedevelopmentofthehabitatecology andaerialsurveystudiesandinterpretationoftheresults( ). METHODSANDRESULTS I. POPULATIONDELINEATION To geographically delineate FB, we will use data gathered from from polar bears tagged with satellite transmitters from In 2007, 10 GEN III ARGOS/GPS(Telonics, Inc.) collars were deployed on female polar bears in southern FB. In 2008, we deployed 26 satellitecollars(genivargos/gps)onadultfemalesand4satelliteeartags(m.vellumspot5 tagandwildlifecomputers)onadultmalesinnorthernandeasternfb(peacocketal.2008).in both years, satellite collars performed poorly (30 of 36 failed prematurely) due to a manufacturer sdefectinvolvingspringtensioninthecr2 Areleasemechanism.Inthespringand autumnof2009,weretrieved11collarstohelpthemanufacturerdeterminethesourceofthe malfunction; the remaining collars likely dropped into ice/water. We received 25 new collars (GEN IV and refurbished GEN III), at no cost, and deployed 24, in addition to one additional satellite ear tag, in the autumn of The satellite collars are all still functioning and are programmedtodropoffin2012. In 2009, 67 polar bears (Table 1, Figure 2) were captured and immobilized for deployment of satellite collars (24) and an ear tag. However, bears were also immobilized if they were 1) dependentyoungofadultfemales;2)wereincloseproximitytoimmobilizedadultfemalesand 7

8 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 thereforeposedathreattothefocalbear;or3)wereclosetothefieldcamponbrayisland.one collar slipped off an adult female within 1 week, and this collar was redeployed on another female. Bears were immobilized with palmer(adults and subadults) or pneu darts(cubs of the year (COY) and yearlings) with a pneu dart gun from a Bell 206L helicopter using Telozol (tiletamine hydrochloride and zolazepam hydrochloride), at a concentration of 250 mg/ml and administeredatapproximately5mg/kg.thefollowingdataandsampleswerecollected:axillary girth; zygomatic breadth; straight line length; a vestigal premolar tooth (aging); ear puncture (DNA); hair samples (heavy metals); claw tip (stable isotopes); and a fat sample (fatty acid analysis). Other information collected included sex, field age, and body condition. We marked capturedbearswitheartagsandliptattoos. After all data are collected (by 2012) analysis on population delineation of FB will commence. Delineation using cluster analysis (Taylor et al. 2001) will incorporate all satellite data, and satellite data from polar bears captured in the neighbouring Gulf of Boothia (GB; Taylor et al. 2009),SH(providedbyM.Obbard,OntarioMinistryofNaturalResources)andWH(providedby A.Derocher,UniversityofAlberta).Finalresultswillbeavailablein2013.Initialgraphicsofthe extentsofhome rangesofalladultfemalecollaredtodate(figures3 5)showthatingeneral polarbearswanderwithinthecurrentboundariesoffb,althoughdousenorthernhudsonbay duringthewinterandspring. II.POPULATIONINVENTORY Populationbiology Allphysicalandgeneticmarks(fromearsamples)placedonpolarbearsfrom canbe used in potential mark recapture recovery modeling in the future to estimate polar bear population size and survival in FB. In total, there were 168 capture events of polar bears from ; 162 individuals were new captures, and 6 recaptures. In 2008, one adult female polar bear (with 2 COY) was caught in Hudson Strait near Markham Bay, who was originally captured in the Davis Strait management zone(ds), in eastern Hudson Strait. In 2009, another adultfemale(with2unmarkedyearlings)wascapturedonnottinghamisland,wasalsooriginally caughtinds,ineasternhudsonstrait.in2009,twoadultfemales(including2tagged2 year olds of one of the females) were recaptured, having been caught originally in FB in No bears werecaughtinfbfromwhorshmanagementzones.thusthereare162physicalmarksinthe FB subpopulation, and approximately 80 additional genetic marks from the 2008 the biopsymarking pilot study(genetic samples have been sent to Wildlife Genetics International; data is housed at the Wildlife Research Section in Igloolik, NU). As of November 2009, 1 bear marked duringinfbfrom hasbeenharvested. In2009,wesearchedapproximately17,000kminthespringand40,000kminthefallwiththe receiver enabled to detect radio frequency identification (RFID) tags deployed in We detected4of32availablerfidtags(i.e.,thosedeployedin2008minus1harvestedinjanuary 2009;thisonewasaffixedtothepolarbearandshowednosignofinfection).TwoRFIDtagswere stillattachedtopolarbearears,andshowednosignsofinfection.thetwootherrfidtagswere 8

9 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 detected but no polar bear was found; we assume the RFID tag had dropped (one on eastern PrinceCharlesIsland,oneoneasternRowleyIsland).In2009,allbears(exceptforCOY)thatwere immobilizedwerefittedwitharfidtagintherightear(n=23).appendix1showsthefateof55 RFIDtagsdeployedin2008and2009. SummarybodymeasurementsofpolarbearscapturedinFBfrom arepresentedin Table2;axillarygirthispresentedonanannualbasisforCOYandencumberedfemales(Table 3).MeanCOYlittersizes(Table3)inthesampleofcapturedpolarbearsin2008and2009 respectivelywere1.63(0.13,se)and1.64(0.15).interestingly,themeancoylittersizeofthe muchlargersampleobservedduringtheaerialsurveywassmallerat1.57(0.06).theselitter sizesaremuchlargerthanthoseobservedrecentlyinafall timestudyindavisstrait(ds; Peacock2009),wheremeanCOYlittersizefrom was1.49(0.15).Ofnote,we capturedmotherswith2 year olds(anda3 year oldin2007),andcapturedorobserved4 tripletlitters(2coy,2yearlings)infb;neithertripletlittersnorsignificantoccurrences2 yearoldsaccompanyingmotherswerecapturedorobservedinds(peacock2009).mostbears capturedin2008and2009infbhadevidenceofmarine mammalfeedingonfur.in2009,ice floeswerepresentinfbthroughoutthesummerandfall. In2009,wefoundtwobearsthatwereshotandleftontheland.On23September,one subadultmale(19.7cmzygomaticbreadth)wasfoundonwesternmanselisland(62.05, 79.34) nearanarcticcharriver,heavilyusedbypeople.anadultfemalewasfounddeadon5 SeptemberonRowleyIsland(69.06, 78.63).Bothbearswereingoodconditionandneitherhad beenscavenged.approximately2kmfromtheadultfemalewasayearlingbeingconsumedby twoadultmalepolarbears.thesebearsshouldcomeoffthefbquotafor Aerialsurveydevelopmentandpopulationestimation Inautumn2008,weconductedapilotstudyinFBtodeterminesightingprobabilitiesand methodsappropriateforanaerialsurveyofpolarbearsonland(s.stapleton,unpublisheddata; Peacocketal.2008).In2009,wecompletedacomprehensiveaerial(helicopter based)survey offbfromaugust15toseptember29.polarbearsconcentrateonlandduringtheice free seasoninfb;weusedacombinationofcoastal contour transects(roughlyparalleltothe coastline)andinlandtransectstosurveymainlandportionsoffbandallverylargeislands (islands>35kminwidthsuchasprincecharlesandcoatesislands).duringcoastaltransects, weflewapproximately200minlandoftheshoreline,andcountedbearsouttoabout500mon theinlandsideoftheaircraft,thussamplingaswathofabout700m.becausepolarbears generallyconcentratealongtheshoreduringthelatesummer,inlandtransectswereoriented perpendiculartothiscoastaldensitygradient(bucklandetal.2001).wefurtherdividedthe studyareaintomultiplestratabasedonproximitytothecoastline:ahighdensitystratum, includinglandwithin5kmofthecoast;alowdensitystratum,includingland5 15kmfrom thenearestcoastline;andaverylowdensitystratum,includingland15 50kmfromthe nearestcoastline.satellitetelemetrydatacollectedinfoxebasinduring wereused todelineatethesestrataanddefinetheinlandextentofthestudyarea(datagatheredfrom satellite collaredindividualsindicatedthatfbbearsveryrarelyventuremorethan50kmfrom 9

10 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 anycoast).allinlandtransectswerespacedat10kmintervals,andweallocatedsamplingeffort suchthattransectswereconcentratedalongthecoastandinthehigh densitystratum.we surveyedapproximately50%ofthecoastlinewithcontourtransects,andmaintainedaratioof 4:2:1forinlandtransectsextending5,15,and50kminland,respectively.Forislands<35km wide(e.g.,rowley,bray,andthespicerislands),weextendedtransectsacrossthewidthofthe islandsandpooledtheseregionsintothe LargeIsland stratum.wealsosurveyedasampleof verysmallislandsaswellasicefloesremaininginbowmanbay,nearigloolik,andinthehecla andfurystraits. SurveyswereconductedfromaBell206BLong Rangeratanaverageairspeedof150km/hr(93 mi/hr)andanabove groundlevel(agl)altitudeofapproximately120m(400ft).wewillusea combinationoftwoapproachestoestimatethenumberofbearsthatwerenotseenwithinthe surveyedareas:sight resight(e.g.,mcdonaldetal.1999)anddistancesampling(bucklandetal. 2001).Forsight resight,observersseatedinthefrontandrearoftheaircraftfunctionedas separate,independentteams;bearscouldbeseenbythefront,back,both,orneitherteam. Comparingdetectionsmadebyoneteamversusbothteamsyieldsindividualdetection probabilitiesforeachteam,acombineddetectionprobabilityforbothteams(i.e.,the probabilitythatatleastoneteamspotsabear),andthereforeanestimateofthebearspresent butnotseenbyeitherteam.wenotethatobserversintherearoftheaircrafthaveablindspot directlybeneaththehelicopter.wesimultaneouslycollecteddatatomeasurethedistanceoff thetransectlineofeachsightingtofacilitatedistancesamplinganalyses(bucklandetal.2001). Toobtainthesemetrics,polarbearlocationswererecordedwithaGPSandperpendicular distancesmeasuredinagis(marquesetal.2006).sincesightingdistancesdecreasewith increasingdistancefromtheaircraft,thenumberofbearsnotobservedatvaryingdistances fromtheflightpathcanbeestimatedbyfittingacurve(detectionfunction)tothesighting distances(distancesampling).weadditionallycollecteddemographicdata,includingsexand age classandabodyconditionindex(stirlingetal.2008),aswellasweatherandtopographic data,whichmayimpactsightingprobabilities. Duringthenearly7 weeksurveyperiod,weflewmorethan40,000kmacrossfb(figure6).we sighted816polarbears,including616independent(i.e.,adultandsubadult)bears,and documentedameanlittersizeof1.57(0.06,se)forcoy(table3).asanticipated,encounter ratesweregreatestalongthecoast,onislands,andinthehighdensitystratum,althougha substantialnumberofbearswerealsodetectedinthelowandverylowdensityinlandstrata (Tables5and6;Figures7 9).Weexpectthatthe inland bearsightingswillmakeasignificant contributiontotheoverallpopulationestimategiventheexpansiveinterioroffb(aarsetal. 2009).Weadditionallyrecorded100bearsontheverysmall,offshoreislandsand4individuals onicefloes.thedistributionofpolarbearsightingdistancesfromthetransectlinesuggestthat wewillbeabletoobtainarobustdetectionfunctionforthedistancesamplinganalyses(figure 10). Populationanalyseswillincludecomparisonamongmultipleanalyticaltechniquessuchas MultipleCovariateDistanceSampling(Aarsetal.2009)andintegrativeproceduressuchas Mark RecaptureDistanceSampling(Laakeetal.2008).Thesemethods,respectively,facilitate 10

11 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 theinclusionofvariablesthatmayaffectdetectionprobabilitiesandaccountforsituationsin whichthedetectionprobabilityofanimalslocatedonthetransectlineis<1.wewillalso evaluatetheutilityandprecisionofestimatesderivedsolelyfromperpendicular,inland transectsversusestimatesderivedfromacombinationofcoastalcontourtransectsandinland transects.wewillobtainapopulationestimateforfbinthespringof2010willrecommend techniquemodificationsforthe2010aerialsurveyinfb.thefinalfbestimatewillbe comprisedofseparateestimatesofbearsresidingalongthecoast,furtherinland,onlarge islands,onsmalloffshoreislands,andonicefloes. AsourpreviouspilotresearchonSouthamptonIslandsuggested(S.Stapleton,unpublished data;peacocketal.2008),thelatesummerdistributionofbearswashighlyclumpedand concentratedalongthecoastin2009(figures7 9).WenotethatFBpolarbearsshowsome evidenceofsex andage classsegregation,andwehypothesizethatthisbehavior,combined withthelatesummermovementoficearoundfb,aresignificantdeterminantsofpolarbear distributiononland.wewillusepolarbearlocationsinagis basedanalysistofurtherevaluate parameterspotentiallyimpactingbeardistributionandsegregation,includingseaice(using remotesensingdataobtainedfromthecanadianiceservice),proximitytothecoastline, proximitytocommunities,andtopography.thesedatawillhelptospatiallystructurefuture aerialsurveyresearchandalsomayhelpidentifypotentialhotspotsforhuman polarbear conflict. AdditionalresearchinFBduring2010willbecriticaltothecontinueddevelopmentand refinementoftheaerialsurveytechnique,toexaminetheconsistencyofpopulationestimates derivedfromthismethod,andtofurtherevaluatethefactorsaffectingthedistributionofpolar bearsduringtheice freeseason.alldataandresultsfromthefbaerialsurveywillbe incorporatedins.stapleton sph.d.dissertation. II. HabitatEcology ThissectiondescribesprogressonanalysisoficehabitatchangeinFoxeBasinandnorthern HudsonBay,andpolarbearhabitatecologyandmovementstudiesfromthe2007and2008 collaringefforts.wealsoprovidesomepreliminaryinformationoninitialmovementsofbears collaredintheautumnof2009. Throughout,wehavedefinedtheseasonsasfollows:open water(august October),freeze up (November December),winter(January March),spring(April May)andbreak up(june July). Allseasonsbutspringreflectseaicephenology;springisthemainringedsealpuppingseason. ChangeinpolarbearhabitatinFoxeBasin WecompletedanalysesofseaiceconcentrationandavailablepolarbearhabitatintheFoxe Basinpolarbearpopulationareaforthetimeperiod (SahanatienandDerocher 2007).Monthly(October June)seaiceconcentrationmaps,derivedfromsatelliteimages,were reclassifiedtofourpolarbearhabitatclassesusingarcgis:seaiceclass1(0 30%oropen 11

12 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears water),seaiceclass2(30 60%orveryopenice),seaiceclass3(60 85%oropenice)andsea iceclass4(85 100%orclosedice).Theareaofeachseaicehabitatclasswascalculatedby monthandyear.overtime,leastsquaresregressionanalysisshowedsignificantdeclinesoverthe 26yearsinthetotalareaofavailablehabitatofseaiceclasses3and4inNovember,December, MayandJune.Further,meanmonthlyairtemperaturewassignificantlycorrelatedwithamount ofavailableseaicehabitatinoctober,novemberanddecember. LandscapemetricswerecalculatedusingFRAGSTATS(McGarigaletal.2002)toassess fragmentationofpolarbearseaicehabitat.duringthestudyperiod,thenumberofpatchesofall seaicehabitatclassesincreasedandthemeanpatchsizeofseaiceclasses3and4decreasedin November,December,January,MayandJune.Overall,availablepolarbearhabitat(seaice classes3and4)infoxebasinduringfallandspringdecreasedandbecameincreasingly fragmented. Thishabitatfragmentationanalysiswillbeupdatedtoinclude seaicedataand preparedforpublicationin2010.theseresultswillbeincludedinv.sahanatien sph.d.thesis. HabitatSelection WeareinvestigatingseasonalhabitatselectionofpolarbearsinFBusingacombinationof satelliteimagery,seaicemapsandpolarbearlocationinformationtodevelopspatial,predictive ResourceSelectionModels(RSM).Theanalyseswillbuildonpreviousunderstandingand approachestomodelingpolarbearhabitatselection(arthuretal.1996b,fergusonetal.2000, Mauritzenetal.2003,Wiigetal.2003,Durneretal.2009). Polarbearhabitatselectionwillbestudiedusingahierarchicalapproach;landscapescale(coarse) or2 nd orderandatthefeaturescale(fine)or3 rd order(johnson1980,durneretal.2009). Habitatselectionwillbestudiedusingtheuse availabilityapproachandrsmsofindividualbears willbeestimated(manleyetal.2000).habitatselectionoffamilygroupstatus,sex,andage class willbecomparedbyyear,monthandseason.seasonaldefinitionsaretobedeterminedandwill bebasedonthetimingoftheseaicecycleandringedseal(phocahispida)lifehistoryinfb. LandscapeScaleHabitatSelection Second orderhabitatselectionmodeldevelopmentwillusediscretechoiceanalysis,the approachusedforspeciesthatexperiencechanginghabitatavailability(arthuretal.1996). Discretechoiceanalysisisappropriatebecausepolarbearseaicehabitatisdynamic,undergoing theannualcycleoffreeze upandbreak up,aswellas,beinginfluencedbycurrentsandtides.fb isaparticularlydynamicsystem,withcontinuouslymovingiceoccupyingcentralfoxebasinand HudsonStrait.Itisnotreasonabletousesingleorevenseasonalseaicehabitatmaps,asthe availablehabitatchangesonafastertemporalscale. WeareusingweeklyseaicechartsproducedbytheCanadaIceService(

13 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Polarbearlocationsforeachtimeperiodwillbeintersectedwithseaicechartsandassociated seaiceattributeinformation.attributedataincludeinformationoniceconditions:totalice concentration;partialiceconcentration;stageofdevelopment(proxyforicethickness);andice floesize.wewillalsoincludeseaicehabitattypesasvariables:openwater;icefree;bergywater (icebergs(inhudsonstraitonly)andsmalllow densityicefloes);andfastice.additional attributevariablesincludedinmodelsare:distancetoland;distancetolandfastice;andocean depth.theseattributeswillbeusedasthechoicesetofhabitatvariablesavailabletothepolar bears.wewillthencomparetheusedhabitatchoicesetswithavailablehabitatchoicesetsto determinehabitatselection.theavailablehabitatchoicesetswillbegeneratedbyintersecting randompointsontheseaicechartswithinaselectedradiusaroundtheactualbearlocation. Herewepresentanexploratoryanalysisofthehabitatusebyfemalepolarbearscollaredin2007. Nostatisticsarepresented,astheseanalysesaremerelyexploratorytofirstunderstandbasic aspectsofhabitatuseofpolarbearsinfb;finalanalyseswillbepresentedwithinthestatistical frameworkofrsm.theinformationpresentedhereispooleddatafrom13femalepolarbears withcubs. Wedefinedavailablehabitatastheseaicehabitattypesandtheirrelativeproportionat10 randomlocationswithina25 kmbufferofeachbearlocation.wedefinedusedhabitatasthesea icetypeateachbearlocation.ingeneral,wefoundsomeevidenceofhabitatselection,asusedhabitatinsomecasesexceedsavailable habitat.withsubsequentmoredetailedanalysis describedabove,wewilldetermineishabitatselectionoccursorifthebearssimplyuseseaice habitataccordingtoitsavailability.inoctober,collaredfemalepolarbearsmovedontothesea iceassoonasitwasavailableandmadeuseoflowerconcentrationsofseaice(50 70%)aswell ashigherconcentrations(90 100%).Astimeprogressedthebearsshiftedtheirusetohigher concentrationsofseaiceuntilwinterwhenallusedlocationswerein100%iceconcentration.in spring,100%iceconcentrationwasusedmostoften(figure11).thereappearstobepreference fordifferenticethicknessdependingonmonth(figure12).innovember,seaiceof10 15cm thicknessisusedingreaterproportionthatavailable,indecemberandjanuary30 70cmis usedsimilarly.infebruaryandmarch,thefemalepolarbearsbegantousethickerice(>120cm). Inspring,habitatusefocusedalmostexclusivelytoseaiceof10 15cminthickness.Earlyinthe fallpolarbearsusedsmallfloes(20 500mindiameter),thenshiftedtomedium( km) andvast(>2km)floesasthesefloesizesbecameavailable(figure13).inwinterwhenthe seascapewasdominatedbyvastfloestherewassomeuseofmediumfloes,indicatingsome habitatselection.thispatternedcontinuedinaprilandmay;injuneandjulytherewasuseof landfasticeandsmallfloes,aswellasvastfloes. FeatureFineScaleHabitatSelection Todevelopbetterunderstandingofclimatechangeeffectsonpolarbearpopulationsitis importanttoquantifyfinescalehabitatselectionandtherelationshipofpolarbears movementstoseaicestructure.greaterknowledgeoffinescaleseaicehabitatwillguide developmentofregionalscalehabitatmodels. 13

14 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Ithasbeenhypothesized(Stirlingetal.1993,Stirling1997)andgenerallyacceptedthatlinear andopenwaterseaicefeatures(polynyas,leads,ridgesandlandfasticeedge)areimportant habitatforpolarbears.theactualuseofandsignificanceofthesehabitatfeatureshasnotbeen wellstudiedbecauseoflogisticalandtechnologicalchallenges.forexample,polynyas,unless> 650km²,andleadsarenotdetectableonseaicechartsandconcentrationmaps.Todatetwo typesofbasemapshavebeenusedtostudypolarbearhabitatandmovements:thecanadian IceService(CIS)andNationalIceService(NIC)charts(Fergusonetal.2000,BarberandIacozza 2004,Durneretal.2004)andSSM/Iimagery(Mauritzenetal.2003,Wiigetal.2003,Durneret al.2009).distancemetricstoicefloeedge(landfastorfloating)havebeenusedinsomeof thesestudiesbutmoredetailedinvestigationoficestructurehasnotbeenpossibleduetothe resolutionofthebasemaps. Syntheticapertureradar(SAR)satelliteimageryisanappropriatealternatebasemapforpolar bearhabitatandmovementresearchbecauseitisavailableyearround(includingduringdark seasonsandincloudyconditions).itisofparticularutilityinpolarbearmovementandhabitat researchbecauseitisofhighresolution(8 150m),permittingdetectionoffinescalefeatures suchaspolynyas,leads,floesize,andseaicetexture(ridging,floes)(figures14 15).Todate therehasbeenlittleuseofsarinhabitatstudiesoficedependentspecies,withtheexception ofringedseals(nichols1999)buttherebeenstudiesusingsarforwildlifehabitatassessment ofotheranimals(taftetal.2003,bergenetal.2007,vanderwaletal.2005) Wecompletedapreliminaryanalysisassessingthecomplexityofseaicehabitatusedbythree adultfemalepolarbearscollaredintheautumnof2008infbtoassesstheappropriatenessand applicabilityofourproposedmethod(sahanatienetal.2009).weusedenvisatasarimagery ofhudsonstraitfordecember25,28,and312008;january01,13,16,22,19;february06,13, 17,20,23,and26;andMarch02,and08,2009.WeusedENVIimageanalysissoftwareto preparetheimagesthatwereexportedtoarcgis.inarcgistheimageswerereclassifiedto reflecthabitatcomplexityusingamovingwindowanalyses.theneighbourhoodwas7x7pixels, whichwasequivalenttoanareaof525x525m.eachpixelwasassignedacomplexityvalue. Habitatcomplexityisanindexoficesurfacetextureorroughness,whichinturnisaproductof icefloesize,theamountandsizeoficeridgesandtherelativeproportionofopenwater,fast ice,newiceandfirstyearice.themovingwindowresultedineachpixelbeingreclassifiedand beingassignedacomplexityvalue.complexityvaluesrangedfrom0to3,500with,3,500being themostcomplex.polarbearlocationswerethenintersectedwiththeappropriateimageand habitatcomplexityinformationrecordedatthatlocation. Thetestanalysiscompletedshowedthatthesefemalepolarbearsusedlowercomplexity values( )ofseaicehabitat(Figures16 18).Thisusepatternwasconsistentovertime andbetweenbears.first,thisexploratoryanalysisindicatesthatourmethodinvolvingsar imagerycanbesuccessfullyusedtodetectyear roundfinescalehabitatuseandselection. Secondly,itappearsthatthethreetestcollaredbearsdidshowsomeleveloffinescalehabitat selection,astheyusedseaicehabitatwithlowercomplexitythanthemajorityofhabitat (complexityvalueofapproximately600). 14

15 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Adetailedanalysiswillbecompletedin2010usingtimecoincidentEnviSatASARand RADARSATWideSwathSARimageryandallFBpolarbearlocationdatatoquantifyfinescale habitatselection.eachimagewillbereclassifiedtodelineateopenwaterseaicefeatures,asea icehabitatcomplexityindexandland.wewillthendeveloparsmusingdistancemetrics, featureshapemetrics,andhabitatcomplexityindex.thisworkwillresultinanewanalytical techniqueforinvestigatingpolarbearseaicehabitatselection. Thehabitatselectionanalysesusingthe movementdatawillbecompletedearlyin 2010andaprogressreportprepared.The3 rd orderand2 nd orderhabitatselectionmethodsand resultswillbepreparedforpublicationin2010.allresultswillbeincludedinv.sahanatien s Ph.D.thesis. FoxeBasinPolarBearSeasonalandAnnualMovements( ) HerewereportonpolarbearmovementsforthetimeperiodAugust2008toOctober2009, basedonpolarbearscollaredduring2008.the2008collarandeartagdeploymenteffortwas reportedoninthe2008foxebasinpolarbearstudyreport(peacocketal.2008).duringaugust September2008,23TelonicsGenIVsatellitecollarsweredeployedonadultfemalepolarbears andfourspot5eartagsweredeployedonadultmalepolarbears. Thereweretechnicalproblemswiththeautomaticrelease(CR2 A)mechanismusedonthe Telonics4satellitecollars(formoredetailsseeabove,METHODSANDRESUTS:POPULATION DELINEATION).Of23collarsdeployedin2008,onlyonecollarcontinuestooperateatthistime (CTN618542A).InJanuary2009only7of23collarswereactive,byAprilonly4collarsandby July,one.Thislevelofcollarfailuresignificantlyaffectedthevolumeofinformationthatcouldbe collectedin ,resultingintheadditionalcollardeploymentin2009. TheGenIIIandmostGenIVsatellitecollarcollectaGPSlocationeveryfourhours,collectingup tosixlocations/day.fouroftherefurbishedgenivsatellitecollarscollectagpslocationevery threehours;collectinguptoeightlocations/day.thegpslocationdataaretransmittedfromthe collarstotheargossatelliteonce/day.thesatellitecollarlocationinformationiscodedasgood orbadquality.allbadlocationsareremovedfromthedatasetforeachcollaredbear.the resultantmovementdatahadfromzerotoeightlocations/day.thesatelliteeartagcollected3 locations/day.eachlocationisgivenanaccuracyclass(3,2,1,0,a,b),3beingmostaccurateand Bleast.Weusedthebestlocationclassandnotlessthan1thatwasavailableforeachday.One location/daywasusedinthemalemovementmetriccalculations.theeartagtransmitted locationsdaily.locationqualitydependsonthecollaroreartagandpolarbear spositionrelative tothegpssatellites.thecollarandeartagdataisreceivedbyclsamerica ( alsosenttothegn,wildliferesearchsection,periodically. Furtheranalysesofallmovementdatacollectedfrom willbecompletedin2010. TheseanalyseswillbeincludedinV.Sahanatien sph.d.dissertationandapublicationwillbe prepared. 15

16 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 AdultfemalePolarBearHomeRange AnnualandseasonalhomerangeswerecalculatedusingtheHawth stoolminimumconvex polygonmethodinarcmap9.3.annualhomeranges( )forcollaredFBadultfemale polarbearswithatleastfourseasons(open water,freeze up,winter,spring)ofdata(n=4) rangedfrom19, ,126km²(Table7).Thetwobears(CTN618542,618536)thatremained infoxebasin(thewaterbody)hadsmallerhomerangesthanbearsthatusedhudsonbay(ctn ,617098).In2008,bearswerecollaredthroughoutthenorthernregionofFB(seemapin Peacocketal.2008).The homerangesweresmallerthanthatobservedin (108, ,681km²;Peacocketal.2008).In ,allcollaredbearsbutone usedhudsonbayduringtheseaiceperiod;in2007polarbearswerecollaredinwagerbay,roes WelcomeSoundandSouthamptonIsland.WhilebothHudsonBayandFoxeBasinbearsuselarge centralzonesofmovingice,itispossiblethatbearsusinghudsonbayexperienceastronger environmental(wind,currents,andseaicephenology)forcingaffectsthanthoseinfoxebasin, and,thisisreflectedinthatthebearscollaredinsouthernfb(2007)hadlargerannualhome rangesizes.prey(seal)densitiesofhudsonbayandfoxebasinhavenotbeenquantifiedbutboth regionsareconsideredtobeveryproductive;itmaybepossiblethatpolarbearmovements reflectrelativepreydensity,anditisknowthatringedsealdensityandavailabilityfluctuates amongyears(stirlingandoritsland1995,rosing Asvid2006). During ,meanhomerangesizesofadultfemaleswerelargestduringfreeze upand break upandsmallestduringtheopen waterseason(tables7and8,figure19;notefigures3 5arehomerangesofbearscollaredin2007and2008).Thissamepatternwasobservedin Themeanopen waterhomerangesizeofthe2009collaredbearswaslessthanthatof ,althoughtherangeofvalueswassimilar.Collaringlocationisprobablyanimportant factorinfluencinghomerangesize,asin2009wecollaredmoreindividualsonsmallerislands (Coates,Mansel,NottinghamandtheSpicers)thatareagreatdistancefromotherislandsorthe mainland,possiblyrestrictingthebearsmovements. MalePolarBearHomeRange Wecalculatedseasonalhomerangesofadultmalepolarbears,taggedin2008(n=4)and2009 (n=1)usingthehawth stoolminimumconvexpolygonmethodinarcmap9.3.threeof4 malepolarbearseasonalhomerangesweresmallerduringtheopen waterseasonthanduring freeze up(table9).thisfollowsthesamepatternasadultfemalepolarbearhomerangesize, butboththerangeofsizesandmeansizeoffemalehomerangesduringeachseasonfrom ,aremuchgreaterthanformales(Figure19,Tables7,8and13,14).Despitethegenerally acceptednotionthatmaleursidsrangefurtherthanfemales,thedifferencewefoundheremay byreflectiveofadultfemaleswithcubsusinglargerareastofindappropriatehabitatpatches(for foragingneedsoravoidance),whichmaybespreadoveralargerarea.thepurposeofthetagging adultmaleswithsatelliteeartagswasprimarilytotesttheeffectivenessoftheeartag,notto gatherextensivedataonmalepolarbears.however,theseinterestingpreliminaryresultssuggest theneedforfurtherresearch,anddemonstratetheeffectivenessofthistagdesign. FemalePolarBearMovements 16

17 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 WecalculatedmovementdistancesusingtheHawth stoolmovementparametersmethodin ArcMap9.3.Movementrateswerecalculatedbydividingthedistance(km)movedbythe interveningtime(hr)betweenlocations.themovementsofthepolarbearsin and 2009bearsweredistinctlydifferentthanthe Longdistanceoverlandmovements weremadebyfourbearsin andfivebearsin2009(Figure20)duringtheopen water season.in2009,fivebearsswamlongdistances,upto35km,betweenislands(figure20).one bear(ctn618536)in appearedtobeinatemporarydeninDecemberandJanuary (Table12).The monthlydistancesmovedwereextremelyvariable(Table12).The greatestmeanmonthlydistancestravelledwereinmay,june,july(breaku up)andnovember (freeze up),and,theleastinaugustandseptember(open water)(table12,figures3 5).In contrast,thegreatestmonthlyratesoftravelwereinjuly,november,februaryandmarch (Tables9and10).Generallyrateoftravelanddistancetravelledarepositivelycorrelated,the contraryvaluesarelikelyareflectionofthelargevariationofindividualmovementratesand distances.theopen waterdistancesandmovementratesofthebearscollaredin2009were similartothosein Ontheseasonalbasis,themeanmovementratewaslowestduringopen water,withasharp increaseatfreeze up(tables9and10).therateincreasedslightlyinwinter,decreasedinspring andthenrosetothemaximumduringbreak up.in ,weobservedasimilarpattern exceptthatthewintermovementratewaslessthanduringfreeze up. Asin ,weobservedmovementsfromtheFoxeBasinstudyareaintoadjacentpolar bearsubpopulations(managementzones):2bearsmovedintowh;2bearsmovedintogbfora periodoftime;and1bearmovedintods.unfortunately,itisnotpossibletoknowiftwoofthe bears(ctn617098,618538)returnedtofoxebasinasthecollarsfailed. Asanexample,CTN617087wascapturedontheFoxeBasinsideofMelvillePeninsula,andwas re collared(ctn631694a)inasimilararea2009.inbothyears,shefollowedaverysimilarpath betweenfbandgb. MalePolarBearMovements WecalculateddistancesmovedusingtheHawth stoolmovementparametersmethodinarcmap 9.3.Movementrateswerecalculatedbydividingthedistance(km)movedbytheintervening time(hr)betweenlocations.malemeandistancesmovedforseptember,octoberandnovember werelessthanfemalerates(tables14 16).Maleseasonalmovementrateforopen waterwas lessthanfreeze up,followingthesamepatternasthatoffemalerates.onlyonemalebear swam;hemovedfromthefoxepeninsulatomillislandandthentosalisburyisland,distancesof approximately40kmeach(figure20). IV.InuitQuajimajatuqangit Habitatecology Wecompleted33individualinterviewsand5focusgroups(2groupsof5,3groupsof2)were completedinfivefbcommunities(kimmirut,capedorset,igloolik,hallbeach,repulsebay,and 17

18 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 CoralHarbour).ItwasnotpossibletoconductinterviewsinChesterfieldInletduetoablizzardon thefirstattemptandonthesecondtriptothekivalliqthehtowasnotavailable. Wefollowedthesemi directedinterviewmethodinwhichasetofquestionsguidedbutdidnot limitthediscussions(grenier1998,huntington2000).weusedinuktitut Englishtranslatorsinall butfiveinterviews.interviewsweredigitallyrecordedinaudioandvideoformats.english transcriptionsofallinterviewshavebeencompleted.inuktituttranscriptionsareinprogress. CopiesofallaudioandvideorecordingshavebeenmadeandarecurrentlyheldbyV.Sahanatien, UniversityofAlberta.Inuitknowledgewasalsorecordedspatially;importantseasonalhabitatfor polarbearswasmarkedonregionalmaps.themapswillbedigitizedandhabitatattribute informationattachedtoeachpointandpolygon. CopiesofallmaterialswillbedepositedforarchivingattheIgloolikResearchCentre.Copiesof eachperson sinterviewwillbeprovidedtothatperson.summariesofeachcommunity s transcripts,mapsandaselectionofvideotapedinterviewswillbecreatedanddistributedtothe HTO.AsummaryreportwillbecreatedanddistributedtoallFoxeBasincommunities,Inuit wildlifemanagementorganizations,nwmb,parkscanadaandnunavutdoe.thesummary reportwillincludeallhistoricalinformationobtainedfromreviewingexistinginuitoralhistory reports,otherreportsanddatabasesandpublishedinformationoninuitknowledgeofpolarbear habitatanddistribution. WeareusingInvivosoftwaretocompletecontentanalysisoftheinterviews.Contentanalysisis expectedtobefinishedearlyin2010.atthistimeitappearsthattherewillbesufficientpolar bearseaicehabitatinformationtocreateaspringhabitatmodel.theframeworkforusingiqin habitatmodelingisthatbasedonthepremisethatinuitknowledge(traditionalecological knowledge)isexpertknowledge(berkes1999)thuscanbeusedinmodels.expertknowledgeand opinionhavebeenusedtocreatemodelsinmedicine,transportation,economicsandrecentlyin ecology(e.g.imageanalyses,populationstatus,speciesdistribution).specifictothisresearchit hasbeendemonstratedthatinuithavesignificantseaiceknowledgeandexpertise(e.g.oozeva etal.2004,laidlerandelee2008,laidleretal.2009).thehabitatmodelingapproachhasnot beenselectedatthistimebutthereareseveralapproachestochoosefrom:fuzzylogic (Mackinson2001,Pattersonetal2007,PeloquinandBerkes2009),delphi(GrechandMarch 2008,O Neilletal.2009),habitatsuitabilityindex/resourceselection(JohnsonandGillingham 2004),Bayesianinference(Martinetal.2007,Wilsonetal.2009)andfrequentistinference(Lele andallen2006,hurleyetal2009).theseresultswillbepreparedforpublicationandincludedin V.Sahanatien sph.d.thesis. Aerialsurvey WealsoattemptedtogatherinformationfromtheHTO sandcommunitymemberstoassistin thedesignofthefoxebasinaerialsurveyandtoevaluatetheagreementbetweenlocal knowledgeandscienceregardingsummertimepolarbeardistribution.inmid summer2009,we sentregionalmapstohto sandco s,requestingthathuntersandeldersidentifyareasofhigh polarbearconcentrationsduringthelatesummer,aswellasabriefquestionnaireassessingan individual sseasonalactivities.wereceivedcompleteddistributionmapsfrom2of7 18

19 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 communities(kimmiruthtoandtheigloolikco).anadditionalcommunity(coralharbour) indicatedthattheentireregionshouldbesurveyed,andanimpromptudiscussionwithan individualinchesterfieldinlethelpedtoidentifyregionalpolarbearconcentrations.weinitially plannedtousedistributiondatatostratifytheaerialsurveysamplingeffort;however,because anindividual sinterpretationofhighandlowdensityareaisrelativetotheirparticular communityandbecauseoflowparticipationofthehto s,wewereunabletostratifytheaerial surveyin2009withinuitknowledge.assuch,thisapplicationofinuitknowledgeacrossthe FoxeBasinsubpopulationwillbechallenging.Wewillassessnewwaystointegratelocal knowledgeandscienceintheaerialsurveyandcontinuetopromotelocalparticipationinthe aerialsurveyfieldwork.thecompleteddistributionmapswillbedigitizedandsubmittedtothe IgloolikOralHistoryProjectattheIgloolikResearchCentre(NunavutResearchInstitute)for archiving.datawillbeincorporatedintothesummaryreportsforcommunities,management authorities,andagenciesasappropriate. ApplicationofResults Theprimaryresultswillinclude,forthefirsttime,thegeographicdelineationoftheFBpolarbear subpopulation boundaries; the first subpopulation estimate since 1994; development of a new non invasivemethodofpopulationestimationofpolarbearsinaseasonal icepopulation;forthe first time explicitly incorporating IQ into habitat selection models (and predictive models) for polarbears;comprehensivelycollectingiqonpolarbearhabitatuse;developinganewmethod offinescalehabitatselectionforpolarbears,whichincludesfinerscaleyear roundresolutionof satelliteimagery;anddevelopmentofapolarbearrsmforfb. Scientific results will be published in peer reviewed literature, at scientific conferences and in interimreports. Datacanbeusedtoinformmanagementdecisionsonamountanddistributionofharvestandto predictchangesinhabitatuse,andtheconsequencesof,asclimatewarms. PosterPresentations Sahanatien,V.,Derocher,A.E.,andPeacock,E.2008.Polarbearmovementsinrelationtosea icestructure,foxebasin,nu.arcticnet ArcticChangeConference,QuebecCity. Sahanatien,V.2006.IncorporatingInuitknowledgeinpolarbearresearch.ArcticNetAnnual ScienceMeeting.Victoria. OralPresentations Sahanatien, V Sea icescapes and polar bear habitat, Foxe Basin, Nunavut ( ). October2007:AssociationofCollegesandUniversitiesNorthernStudies(ACUNS),Saskatoon,SK 19

20 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Sahanatien, V., Derocher A.E Sea icescapes and polar bear habitat, Foxe Basin Nunavut ( ). Sixteenth International Bear Research and Management Conference, Monterrey, Mexico Sahanatien,V.2008.Polarbearhabitatfragmentation,seaicescapesandclimatechange. ACUNS AnnualGeneralMeeting,Ottawa. Sahanatien,V.,Derocher,A.E.,Peacock,EandHaas,C.2009.SARandPolarBearSeaIce Habitat.MarineMammalSociety18 th BiennialConference,QuebecCity. Sahanatien,V.,Peacock,E.,andDerocher,A.E.2009.Polarbearhabitatinaseasonalseaice ecozone.acuns CommunitiesofChangeConference,Whitehorse. Sahanatien,V.,Derocher,A.E.andPeacock,E.2009.BeyondMapsandStories:Wildlifehabitat modelingusingtraditionalecologicalknowledge.9 th WorldWildernessCongress,Merida, Mexico. FutureProfessionalPresentations Asanalysesarefinalized,E.Peacock,S.StapletonandV.Sahanatienwillpresenttheseresultsat scientific conferences including International Conference on Bear Research and Management, BiennialConferenceoftheSocietyofMarineMammals,WildlifeSociety,ArcticNet,ACUNSand EcologicalSocietyofAmerica. DatawillalsobepresentedatthePolarBearTechnicalCommitteeMeetingsandattheworking meetingsofthepolarbearspecialistgroup. REPORTINGTOCOMMUNITIES/RESOURCEUSERS Community consultation efforts were shared between the University of Alberta and the GN in 2007.In2008and2009,theGNconductedconsultations. Maps of polar bear movements, the 2007, 2008 and current interim reports and posters (FB Aerialsurvey,FBpolarbearproject,FBInuitKnowledgeStudy)havebeensenttoallHTOs. CompletedConsultations RepulseBay HuntersandTrappersOrganization(February2007,February2008,February2009, April2009) Grades9 12 ChesterfieldInlet HuntersandTrappersOrganization(February2007,February2008,April2009) CoralHarbour 20

21 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 HuntersandTrappersOrganization(April2007,July2007,February2007,February 2008,April2009) Radiocall inshow(february2008) PublicMeeting(April2009) RankinInlet HunterandTrappersOrganization(February2007,February2008) KivalliqInuitAssociation Lands(February2007,February2008,February2009) NunavutTunngavikIncorporated,Wildlife(February2007,February2008) SilaLodgeCo Owners(July2007) Nunavut Wildlife Symposium(all HTOs, RWOs, NWMB and NTI attended), March 2009 Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Organizations (May 2007, May 2008, November 2008, January2009) HallBeach HuntersandTrappersOrganizations(May2007,May2009) CapeDorset HuntersandTrappersOrganizations(May2007,March2009,April2009) Kimmirut HuntersandTrappersOrganizations(May2007,January2009,May2009,August 2009) Publicmeeting(January2009) BakerLake HuntersandTrappersOrganization( edandmailedinformationonlyin2006, 2007and2008) Ukkusiksalik Park Management Committee (December 2006, February 2007, January 2008) QikiqtalluqWildlifeBoard(November2007,November2008) 21

22 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table1.PolarbearsimmobilizedandhandledinFoxeBasin,August October2009. Sex Adult Subadult 2 YR* Yearling* COY Total Female Male Total *Accompaniedbymother.Notenoteethweretakenfrombearsaccompaniedbymothers,thus2YRandYearlingrepresentfieldages. Table2.Averageandstandarderrorsofbodymetrics(cm)ofpolarbearscapturedduringtheFoxeBasinPolarBearProject Samplesizesareinparentheses. Adult Subadult 2YR* Yearling* COY Straight linebodylength Female ±1.35(66) ±4.00(2) ±7.13(3) ±5.50(10) ±1.19(26) Male ±2.65(11) Nonecaptured ±9.70(6) ±3.67(17) ±2.24(27) Zygomaticbreadth Female 20.80± ± ± ± ±0.12 Male 26.15±0.69 Nonecaptured 18± ± ±0.10 Axillarygirth Female ± ± ± ± ±1.60 Male ± ± ± ±2.07 Table3.Littersizes(SE)ofobservedfamilygroupsduringaerialsurveysorcaughttodeploycollarsin Yearandmethod COY Yearling* 2YR* Numberoflitters 2007captured 1.13(0.13) 1.60(0.40)** captured 1.63(0.13) 1.56(0.18)** captured 1.64(0.15) 2.00(0.22) 1.40(0.25) observed 1.57(0.06) 1.66(0.09) 1.44(0.13) 127 *fieldages;noteethpulled. **pooled2yrandyearlinglittersbecauseofsmallsamplesize 22

23 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table4.Meanandstandarderrorsofaxillarygirthincentimeters(samplesize)ofcapturedCOYandencumberedadultfemalepolar bearsinfb, Year COY AdultfemaleswithCOY AdultfemaleswithYRL Adultfemaleswith2YR ±6.03(9) ±3.09(8) ±1.45(3) ±9.5(2) ±1.44(26) ±3.01(16) ±5.16(7) ±5.25(2) ±1.71(18) ±11.39(11) ±2.68(7) ±5.14(5) Table5.Polarbearobservations,categorizedbysex,age,andsightinglocation,documentedduringtheFoxeBasinaerialsurvey, AugustandSeptember2009.Individualswhichwereseenfrommultipletransects(n=44)areincludedinallrelevantsighting locationcategories.bearsobservedoninlandtransectsbetweenpaired5km(n=17)andpaired15km(n=4)inlandtransectsare presentedintheinland5 15kmcategory.Note:donotchangefigurestoproportionsofbearsseenindifferenthabitats,ashabitats weresampledinastratifiedmanner. Coast Inland<5km Inland5 15km Inland15 50km LargeIslands SmallIslands andwater IceFloes Ferryand Off Transect Males Females FamilyGroups* 127(49) 60(23) 50(20) 0 50(20) 34(14) 0 26(9) 347(135) Subadults Other** Total *Totalbears(Numberoffamilygroups) **Unidentifiedindependentbears Total 23

24 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table6.Polarbearencounterrates(encountersper1,000km),categorizedbysex,age class,andstratum,documentedduringthe FoxeBasinaerialsurvey,August September,2009.Individualswhichwereseenfrommultipletransects(n=44)areincludedinall relevantsightinglocationcategories.bearsobservedoninlandtransectsbetweenpaired5km(n=17)andpaired15km(n=4) inlandtransects,aswellastherespectivetransectdistances,arepresentedintheinland5 15kmcategory.SeeFigure9for graphicalrepresentationofthesedata. Kmflown* Males Females Familygroups (individuals) Familygroups (groups) Subadults Other** Total Coast 7, Inland<5km 4, Inland5 15km 5, Inland15 50km 2, Largeislands 1, Total 21,547* *** *Excludesallferriesandsmallislandsurveyflights **Unidentifiedindependentbears ***Totalencounterrateforindividuals 24

25 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table7.Area(km 2 )ofindividualseasonalhomeranges(mcp)ofsatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,foxebasin CTN Open water Freeze up Winter Spring Break up Annual Table8.Meanarea(km²)ofseasonalhomeranges(MCP)ofsatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,FoxeBasin Open water Freeze up Winter Spring Break up Annual Mean SE N Minimum Maximum

26 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table9.Meanmonthlymovementrate(km/hr)ofsatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,FoxeBasin August September October November December January February March April May June July Mean SE N Minimum Maximum Table10.Meanseasonalmovementrate(km/hr)ofsatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,FoxeBasin Open water Freeze up Winter Spring Break up Mean SE N Minimum Maximum

27 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table11.Meanmonthlydistances(km)ofsatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,FoxeBasin August September October November December January February March April May June July Mean SE N Minimum Maximum

28 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table12.Monthlydistances(km)movedbysatellitecollaredfemalepolarbears,FoxeBasin CTN August September October November December January February March April May June July

29 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 CTN August September October November December January February March April May June July (Table12continued) 29

30 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table13.Seasonalhomerange(MinimumConvexPolygon)size(km²)ofsatelliteear taggedmalepolarbears,foxebasin ArgosID Open water Freeze up Mean SE N Minimum Maximum Table14.Monthlydistances(km)movedbysatelliteear taggedmalepolarbears,foxebasin ArgosID September October November December Mean SE N Minimum Maximum

31 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Table15.Monthlymovementrate(km/hr)ofsatelliteear taggedmalepolarbears,foxebasin ArgosID September October November December Mean SE N Minimum Maximum Table16.Seasonalmovementrate(km/hr)ofsatelliteear taggedmalepolarbears,foxebasin ArgosID Open water Freezeup Mean SE N Minimum Maximum

32 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure1.BoundariesofCanadianpolarbearmanagementzonesorsubpopulations,includingFoxeBasin(FB). 32

33 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure2.Satellitecollars(pinktriangles)andtag(bluestar)deployedonpolarbearsin FoxeBasin,August October

34 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure3.Homeranges(MinimumConvexPolygons)ofpolarbearscollaredin2007and 2008duringtheopen waterseasoninfoxebasin. 34

35 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure4.Homeranges(MinimumConvexPolygons)ofpolarbearscollaredin2007and 2008duringthefreeze upseasoninfoxebasin. 35

36 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure5.Homeranges(MinimumConvexPolygons)ofpolarbearscollaredin2007and 2008duringthewinterseasoninFoxeBasin. 36

37 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure6.TransectsflownduringtheaerialsurveyforpolarbearsintheFoxeBasinsubpopulation,August September

38 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure7.Distributionof816polarbearsseenofvarioussex,age classesand reproductive statusduringthe2009aerialsurveyinthefoxebasinsubpopulation. 38

39 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure8.Distributionofpolarbearsseenofvarioussex,ageandreproductive status duringtheaerialsurveyonsouthhamptonandcoatesislandsinseptember

40 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Encounterratesofbearsorfamilygroups (per1000km) Adultmales Adultunencumberedfemales Familygroups Subadults Coast Inland<5km Inland5 15km Inland15 50km Coast >Inland Figure9.DataasinTable6.Thestandardizedencounterratesofpolarbeargroupsin relationtothecoastonthemainlandandlargeislands(>35kminwidth)infoxebasin duringthefall timeaerialsurveyin

41 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Observa\onsofpolarbeargroups >1575 a. Distancefromtransect(m) Observera\onsofpolarbeargroups >1400 Distancefromtransect(m) b. Figure10.Distancedetectionfunctionordistributionofperpendiculardistances(i.e., fromthetransectline)ofpolarbearssightedduringa.foxebasinaerialsurveyinland sampling,augustandseptember2009.notethatthisfiguredoesnotinclude individualssightedduringoverlandferriesandb.fordistance samplingaerialsurvey studyofpolarbearsinthebarentsseaforcomparison(aarsetal.2009);their coefficientofvariation(cv)was13%. 41

42 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 a. b. c. Figure11.Totalconcentrationoficethatwasavailable(solidbars)andused(hashed bars)bythirteenadultfemalepolarbearswithcollarsfrom2007to2008inthea.fall;b. winter;andc.spring. 42

43 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 a. b. c. Figure12.Icethicknessthatwasavailable(solidbars)andused(hashedbars)by thirteenadultfemalepolarbearswithcollarsfrom2007to2008inthea.fall;b.winter; andc.spring. 43

44 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 a. b. c. Figure13.Icefloesizethatwasavailable(solidbars)andused(hashedbars)bythirteen adultfemalepolarbearswithcollarsfrom2007to2008inthea.fall;b.winter;andc. spring. 44

45 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure14.EnviSatASARimageofwesternHudsonStraitandpathsof3adultfemale polarbearson3january2009.whiteareasoftheimageareland. 45

46 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure15.Pathofacollaredadultfemalepolarbear(2 4January2009)mappedon EnviSatASARimage(3January2009). 46

47 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure16.AnexampleofseaicehabitatavailabletopolarbearsinHudsonStrait,29 February2009. Figure17.SeaicehabitatusedbythreecollaredfemalepolarbearswithcubsinHudson Strait,December2008 March

48 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure18.Dailyseaicehabitatuse,withrespecttofinescalecomplexity,bythree collaredfemalepolarbearswithcubs,hudsonstrait,december2008 March

49 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears Area(km 2,SE) summer freezeup winter spring breakup Season Figure19.Area(km 2 )ofcollaredadultfemale(whitebars)andmale(graybars)seasonal homeranges(minimumconvexpolygons)betweenaugust2008andjuly2009.sample sizesaresummer(18);freeze up(13);winter(7);spring(4)andbreak up(2)for females.displayedaredatafor4males. 49

50 Peacocketal. FoxeBasinPolarBears 2009 Figure20.Pathsoffemale(24)andmale(1,redlineonFoxePeninsula)polarbears, collaredduring2009,duringtheopen waterseasonandthebeginningoffreeze up, August November

51 Figure 21. Annual movements of collared Foxe Basin adult female polar bears The heavy black line shows the Foxe Basin management zone (subpopulation).

52 Figure 22. Annual movements of Foxe Basin collared adult female polar bears The heavy black line shows the Foxe Basin management zone (subpopulation).

53 Figure 23. The movements for 5 satellite-tagged adult male polar bears in Foxe Basin 2008 (n = 4) and 2009 (n = 1; light green). The average number of days of ear tag transmitting was 98 ± 11 (SE).