RT Journal Article
T1 Linking landscape structure and vegetation productivity with nut consumption by the Cantabrian brown bear during hyperphagia
A1 Pérez Girón, José Carlos
A1 Díaz Varela, Emilio Rafael
A1 Álvarez Álvarez, Pedro
A1 Hernández Palacios, Orencio
A1 Ballesteros, Fernando
A1 López Bao, José Vicente
K1 Brown bear
K1 Hyperphagia
K1 Dynamic habitat index
K1 Landscape pattern
K1 Habitat modelling
AB In bears, reproduction is dependent on the body reserves accumulated during hyperphagia. The Cantabrian brown bear mainly feeds on nuts during the hyperphagia period. Understanding how landscape heterogeneity and vegetation productivity in human-dominated landscapes influence the feeding habits of bears may therefore be important for disentangling species-habitat relationships of conservation interest. We determined the spatial patterns of nut consumption by brown bears during the hyperphagia period in relation to landscape structure, characteristics of fruit-producing patches and vegetation productivity. For this purpose, we constructed foraging models based on nut consumption data (obtained by scat analysis), by combining vegetation productivity data, topographical variables and landscape metrics to identify nut foraging patterns during this critical period for bears. The average wooded area of patches where scats were collected and where the nuts that the bears had consumed were produced was larger than that of the corresponding patches where nuts were not produced. For scats collected outside of nut-producing patches, the distance between the scats and the patches was greatest for chestnut-producing patches. Elevation, Gross Primary Production (GPP) and the Aggregation Index (AI) were good predictors of acorn consumption in the models. Good model fits were not obtained for data on chestnut consumption in bears. The findings confirm that brown bears feeding on nuts show a preference for relatively large, highly aggregated patches with a high degree of diversity in the landscape pattern, which may help the bears to remain undetected. The nut prediction model highlights areas of particular importance for brown bears during hyperphagia. The human presence associated with sweet chestnut forest stands or orchards may make bears feel more vulnerable when feeding.
PB Elsevier
SN 0048-9697
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42627
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42627
LA eng
NO Pérez-Girón, J. C., Díaz-Varela, E. R., Álvarez-Álvarez, P., Palacios, O. H., Ballesteros, F., & López-Bao, J. V. (2022). Linking landscape structure and vegetation productivity with nut consumption by the Cantabrian brown bear during hyperphagia. Science of the Total Environment, 813, 152610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152610
NO J.C. Pérez-Girón is in receipt of a “Severo Ochoa” PhD Grant provided by the Government of Principado de Asturias (PA-18-PF-BP17-026). J.V. López-Bao was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness: Ramon & Cajal research contract (RYC-2015-18932). We thank the staff of the Regional Governments of Asturias, Castilla y León, and Cantabria for the administrative and logistical support. We thank everyone who helped to collect bear faeces, particularly the rangers in the autonomous regions and the Brown Bear Foundation. This research received financial support from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic challenge of the Government of Spain.
DS Minerva
RD 23 abr 2026