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The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed.The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivore, with adult males weighing 300–800 kg (660–1,760 lb).
This increases their ability to conserve heat. Layers of fat, plumage, and fur also act as insulators to help retain warmth and are common in Arctic animals including polar bears and marine mammals. Some animals also have digestive adaptations to improve their ability to digest woody plants either with or without the aid of microbial organisms.
For the most part, the large carnivores are the dominant species in the ecoregion, mainly the polar bear. It is the keystone species for the area due to many of its habits, including its diet and hunting strategies. In addition, the life history of the 22,000 polar bears in the Arctic clearly defines its current existence in the Arctic Cordillera.
Overall, it shows that it's unlikely polar bears can adapt to living on land, Derocher said. When polar bears have sea ice, they feast on seals. Not just the seals, but their fat. About 70% of the polar bear diet while on ice is fat, said study co-author Karyn Rode, a USGS wildlife biologist.
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The key danger for polar bears posed by the effects of climate change is malnutrition or starvation due to habitat loss.Polar bears hunt seals from a platform of sea ice. Rising temperatures cause the sea ice to melt earlier in the year, driving the bears to shore before they have built sufficient fat reserves to survive the period of scarce food in the late summer and early fall.
In warmer areas of the polar regions moths, butterflies and beetles can be found. Some of the larger animals that exist are foxes, wolves, rabbits, hares, polar bears, reindeer/caribou. There are various bird species that have been spotted in the Arctic. Eight species of birds reside on the polar tundra year round while 150 breed in the Arctic ...
Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Although algal kelp forest combined with coral reefs only cover 0.1% of Earth's total surface, they account for 0.9% of global primary productivity . [ 3 ]