EDMONTON, Alta. — To protect the vulnerable biodiversity of the Arctic, researchers from the University of Alberta and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) have identified a new conservation strategy in western Hudson Bay: using polar bears as an "umbrella species" to guide where protection is needed most.
Establishing boundaries for marine protection is often difficult due to a lack of data on where marine life gathers. Polar bears offer a solution: by analyzing two decades of tracking data from 355 bears, a new study in Arctic Science identified a "high-use" area near Cape Churchill, Manitoba, highlighting it as a prime location for a Marine Protected Area (MPA).
According to the study's authors, including U of A biological sciences professor Dr. Andrew Derocher and Dr. Nicholas Pilfold , conservation scientist at SDZWA, protecting polar bear habitat naturally safeguards the resources they rely on to survive. In turn, polar bears provide critical benefits to the ecosystem; for example, their leftover kills feed scavengers like Arctic foxes, wolves, ravens, and gulls. The research shows polar bears meet nearly all the criteria for an umbrella species, including well-documented biology, vast home ranges, and a high sensitivity to human disturbance.
Last month Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced funding to explore the establishment of a national marine conservation area in western Hudson Bay.
"By leveraging the extensive data we have on polar bears, we can help design MPAs that safeguard both the bears and the vast network of Arctic species that rely on them," says Dr. Pilfold. "Well-designed dynamic MPAs have the potential to preserve biodiversity in a constantly changing Arctic landscape."
The authors acknowledge climate change and melting ice may eventually reduce the polar bear's habitat, but using the northern bear as an umbrella species can provide a good starting point.
"In the rapidly warming Arctic, marine ecosystems will be stressed by the additive effects of industrial activity and polar bear location data provide a path to designing marine protected areas," says Dr. Derocher.
