The bear-berry connection: Ecological and management implications of brown bears' food habits in a highly touristic protected area

Alberto García-Rodríguez,Nuria Selva,Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica,Jörg Albrecht,Clement Lionnet,Delphine Rioux,Pierre Taberlet,Marta De Barba

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109376

Abstract

Diet studies are essential to understand animal ecology and ecosystem dynamics, especially in the case of large omnivores. These studies are particularly relevant in areas where human disturbance is intense and, thus, species dietary patterns might change due to the easy accessibility of food resources of human origin, which may hinder the ecosystem services these species provide. We assessed the diet of brown bears (Ursus arctos) by DNA metabarcoding in Tatra National Park (southern Poland), a highly touristic protected area. Brown bears' diet showed a marked seasonality, a characteristic feature of brown bear populations relying on natural foods. Graminoids represented the main food during spring, while fleshy-fruited plants became more important from mid-summer. Fleshy-fruited plants were present in 56% of faeces and during the entire activity period of bears, revealing that fruits play a pivotal role in the feeding ecology of Tatra brown bears. Two berry species, Vaccinium myrtillus and Rubus idaeus, were the most frequently detected (in 42% and 20% of faeces, respectively). The large consumption of fleshy-fruited plants, and particularly of berries, suggests that, despite high levels of human disturbance in the area, brown bears still play a key role as seed dispersers. Management strategies focused on an effective waste management, control of berry picking, strict regulations about human activities in specific areas during sensitive periods in the feeding ecology of bears, and the lack of artificial food provisioning are crucial to ensure the seed dispersal processes and associated ecosystem services that bears and other frugivores provide.

Highlights

Human population is currently increasing in unprecedented numbers, with the environmental conditions worsening worldwide as a consequence of human-driven processes such as resource exploitation, pollution, climate change and their synergistic interactions (Brook et al, 2008)
We have shown that fleshy fruits, and berries, are among the most frequent food consumed by brown bears inhabiting Tatra National Park
Two fleshy-fruited plant species, V. myrtillus and R. idaeus, were the most relevant food items for bears in the region, suggesting that, as it happens in many brown bear populations worldwide, fleshy fruits are pivotal for the species, especially during hyperphagia, when they feed intensively in order to achieve the ener getic demands needed to survive the winter (Welch et al, 1997; GarcíaRodríguez, Albrecht, Szczutkowska et al, 2021)

Summary

Introduction

Human population is currently increasing in unprecedented numbers, with the environmental conditions worsening worldwide as a consequence of human-driven processes such as resource exploitation, pollution, climate change and their synergistic interactions (Brook et al, 2008). Many wildlife species are forced to live in fragmented anthropogenic landscapes (Goudie, 2013). We still know little about how other forms of human disturbance in natural areas such as mountain tourism, the provision of artificial food to wildlife or the extraction of natural foods by humans (e.g. berry picking) may hinder animal-mediated seed dispersal processes. Understanding animal-mediated ecosystem functions, such as seed dispersal by frugivores, requires a good knowledge of species diet, especially in those with a complex feeding ecology such as large carni vores with an omnivorous diet (Nawaz et al, 2019). Large carnivores have an important conservation value as they play key roles in ecosys tems, a better understanding of their feeding ecology is crucial to

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