Courtship of brown bears Ursus arctos in northern Spain: phenology, weather, habitat and durable mating areas

Abstract

During 1988-2004 we made 297 non-systematic direct observations of freeranging brown bears Ursus arctos in the Cantabrian Range of Spain, one of the southernmost and most endangered populations in Europe. Observations were distributed over the whole calendar year, with records in every month. We classified 23 observations as breeding behaviour (male-female close interactions). They occurred between 17 April and 12 June, but mainly from the second week of May to the first week of June, both included. Matings (N = 12) took place between 25 April and 12 June, with one in April, nine in May and two in June. These dates indicated that the mating season started earlier in the Cantabrian bear population than in other Euroasiatic and American bear populations. Breeding bears showed greater diurnal activity in cloudy and rainy weather than did non-breeding bears in the same period. Also, breeding bears used brush more often than forests and grasslands when compared with other bears in the same areas and periods. Some mating areas were used repeatedly in different breeding seasons (up to five years). The observed behaviour could be related to the small size of the bear population, the reduced and fragmented forest habitat and the high level of human disturbance characteristic of the Cantabrian Mountains. Reproductive strategies and mating systems, including the spatial and temporal patterns of breeding activities, are considered important scientific topics with implications for the implementation of suitable conservation measures, for the bears as well as for their habitat.

Animal Habitat Quality and Ecosystem Functioning: Exploring Seasonal Patterns Using Ndvi

“…Second, it shows a steep increase during the spring months, April to June. This increase in productivity coincides with the moment when females with newborn cubs usually leave the den , and with the mating season (Ferna´ndez-Gil et al 2006). Third, ecosystem functioning shows a pronounced maximum in summer and early autumn (June-September).…”

Noninvasive genetic studies of brown bears using power poles

“…Marking and rubbing in bears are a ubiquitous, but still poorly understood, aspect of the species' behavior (Green and Mattson 2003;Karamanlidis et al 2007). The greater marking and rubbing activity of brown bears in our study area coincided with the mating season of the species in these latitudes (Fernandez-Gil et al 2006) and was most probably associated with it. Similar behavior has been also suggested for grizzly bears in North America (Green and Mattson 2003) and other carnivore species (Schmidt and Kowalczyk 2006).…”

“…These broad sampling periods were defined considering the general activity and Fig. 1 Map of the southern Balkans indicating the locations of the six study areas in Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and Greece (Florina, Grammos, Grevena, Trikala), the power poles inspected, and the poles that were used as sampling stations for genetic sampling Table 1 Number of power poles used in six networks for genetic sampling and their intensity of use by brown bears (I: low rubbing activity; II: low marking activity; III: medium marking and rubbing activity; IV: heavy marking activity; V: heavy marking and rubbing activity; see Karamanlidis et al 2007 andKaramanlidis 2008 N/100 km 2 is a density index of the sampling network, calculated as the number of sampling power poles divided by the size of the study area in 100 km 2 Table 1 Number of power poles used in six networks for genetic sampling and their intensity of use by brown bears (I: low rubbing activity; II: low marking activity; III: medium marking and rubbing activity; IV: heavy marking activity; V: heavy marking and rubbing activity; see Karamanlidis et al 2007 andKaramanlidis 2008 for more information on these categories) in the southern Balkans (April-May 2008) habitat use patterns of brown bears in these latitudes (Huber and Roth 1992;Mertzanis et al 2005Mertzanis et al , 2008Fernandez-Gil et al 2006), taking into account specific environmental conditions in Greece. During mild winters, some bears in the country appear to be active and have been recorded to mark and rub on power poles throughout the winter (Karamanlidis 2008).…”

Decline and recovery of a large carnivore: environmental change and long-term trends in an endangered brown bear population

“…This mechanism was suggested by spatial analyses indicating that, in northern Europe, neighbouring females have the ability to influence the likelihood of reproduction among each other [22]. This effect might be enhanced at high densities and by behavioural syndromes favouring spatial aggregation, like the repeated use of specific reproductive areas [34] and philopatric behaviour favouring that females remain close to their natal home range [35].…”