Polar bear research: has science helped management and conservation?
Abstract
Wildlife management is predicated upon the use of scientific research to assist decision-making. However, assessment of the effectiveness of the management–research relationship is rarely undertaken. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have benefitted from an international agreement that required each of the countries within the species’ range to manage them using the best available scientific data. The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on polar bears to describe research trends and to assess how effectively research has met management needs. We analyzed 1191 peer-reviewed scientific papers from 1886–2016 covering 24 research topics. Annual counts of papers within each research topic were assessed for temporal trends, spatial coverage, and the extent to which they have facilitated management and monitoring needs. The annual number of papers increased from <10 in the early 1960s to >50 in recent years with a mean of 2.2 papers per subpopulation per year with great variation between the 19 global subpopulations. We conclude that there is an imbalance in the geographic and thematic focus of peer-reviewed research in recent years, and that only four subpopulations appear to have had a research focus covering most parameters essential for conservation and sound management.
Résumé
La gestion de la faune repose sur l’utilisation de la recherche scientifique afin d’aider dans la prise de décision. Cependant, on entreprend rarement l’évaluation de l’efficacité de la relation recherche–gestion. Les ours polaires (Ursus maritimus) ont été avantagés par un accord international qui a exigé que chacun des pays dans l’aire de répartition de l’espèce en fasse la gestion en utilisant les meilleures données scientifiques disponibles. L’objectif de la présente étude est d’effectuer une revue systématique de la littérature sur les ours polaires ayant été évaluée par des pairs afin de décrire les tendances de la recherche et d’évaluer avec quelle efficacité la recherche a répondu aux besoins de gestion. Nous avons analysé 1191 articles scientifiques évalués par des pairs, publiés entre 1886 et 2016 et portant sur 24 sujets de recherche. Les comptes annuels d’articles par sujet de recherche ont été évalués afin de cerner les tendances temporelles, la couverture spatiale et d’évaluer dans quelle mesure ils ont facilité la gestion et le suivi des besoins. Le nombre annuel d’articles a crû de <10 au début des années 1960 jusqu’à >50 ces dernières années et le nombre moyen est de 2,2 articles par sous-population par année avec une grande variation entre les 19 sous-populations du monde. Nous concluons qu’il y a un déséquilibre au niveau de l’orientation géographique et thématique de la recherche évaluée par des pairs ces dernières années et que seulement quatre sous-populations semblent avoir fait l’objet de recherche dont le domaine d’intérêt couvrait la plupart des paramètres essentiels à la conservation et à la saine gestion. [Traduit par la Rédaction]
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Environmental Reviews
Volume 26 • Number 4 • December 2018
Pages: 358 - 368
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Received: 23 February 2018
Accepted: 4 July 2018
Published online: 10 July 2018
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Dag Vongraven, Andrew E. Derocher, and Alyssa M. Bohart. Polar bear research: has science helped management and conservation?. Environmental Reviews.
26(4): 358-368. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0021
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