Dietary plasticity and the importance of salmon to brown bear (Ursus arctos) body size and condition in a low Arctic ecosystem

Ecological flexibility within animal populations can allow for variation in resource use and foraging decisions. We estimated brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) diet composition in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska from 2013 to 2015 to evaluate how variation in foraging behavior influences body condition and size. We used stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope analyses of sectioned brown bear hair samples to evaluate...