Predation by bears on salmon: ecology, behavior and evolution

 

The annual return of salmon from the sea to freshwater ecosystems of the Pacific Rim provides food for a wide variety of organisms that occupy these habitats. However, bears play a special role as predators on salmon, as salmon do as food for bears. This seminar reviews studies at 1) the population level, on density-dependent predation by bears, 2) the behavioral level, on selective predation with respect to size and energy content of the salmon, and selective consumption of salmon body parts, 3) the evolutionary level, on adaptation of salmon life history traits to bear predation, and 4) the ecological level, on the role of bears in transporting nutrients from salmon into the riparian zone.