Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39693298›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) display selective behaviors while foraging bromeliads (Puya spp.) in high elevation puna grasslands.

Nicholas W Pilfold, Denisse Mateo-Chero, William Farfan-Rios, Mrinalini Watsa, Megan A Owen, Russell C Van Horn

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Nicholas W PilfoldConservation Science Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, California, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-5324-5499
Denisse Mateo-CheroConservation Science Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, California, United States of America.
William Farfan-RiosDepartment of Biology and Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
Mrinalini WatsaConservation Science Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, California, United States of America.
Megan A OwenConservation Science Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, California, United States of America.
Russell C Van HornConservation Science Wildlife Health, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, California, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-5789-8822

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Andean bears (Tremarctos ornatus) forage extensively on bromeliads (Puya spp.) across their range, although their selectivity for bromeliads is less understood. We report on foraging activity by Andean bears on two species of bromeliad, Puya leptostachya and Puya membranacea, in high elevation puna grasslands (3499-3806 m.a.s.l) within and near Manu National Park (MNP) in SE Peru. We established two ridgeline transects (inside and outside MNP) with perpendicular transects running downslope. We recorded whether bromeliad plants were foraged by Andean bears on four separate sampling occasions that included wet and dry seasons from July 2017 to August 2018. We observed foraging by Andean bears at 6.8% of the available individual plants spread across 16.7% of the available patches. We utilized Resource Selection Functions to evaluate the environmental factors influencing the selection of bromeliad patches by Andean bears for foraging. Andean bears showed selection for Puya leptostachya over Puya membranacea, preferring to forage during the dry season at higher density patches of younger vegetative-stage bromeliads, possibly due to the increased bioavailability of nutrients in the basal meristematic plant tissue the bears prefer to eat. Andean bears selected bromeliad patches growing on east-facing, steep, high-altitude slopes, in a band near the cloud forest edge, which likely reflected a combination of optimal growing conditions for the bromeliads and habitat selection by the bears. Observations of foraging on grassland bromeliads occurred almost exclusively within the boundaries of MNP, which may in part reflect bears avoiding cattle impacts outside of the park. Andean bears showed active behavioral selection for bromeliads within the puna grasslands, and we recommend that grassland buffers around the cloud forest should be considered as primary habitat in conservation management plans.

Indexed as

GrasslandUrsidaeAltitudeAnimalsBromeliaceaeEcosystemFeeding BehaviorPeruSeasons

Identifiers

PMID39693298
PMCPMC11654964

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.