IBA Managers Committee Webinar no. 7
Title: Effects of Climate on Black and Brown Bear Ecology and Interactions with Humans
Presenter: Dr. Katherine Kurth, U.S. Geological Survey, National Climate Adaptation Center

This joint webinar with the IUCN North American Bear Expert Team focused on climate change as a potential driver of future challenges of managing bears in North America, as it may alter the availability of resources, with resulting impacts on bear ecology, behavior, and interactions with humans. Although the existing literature provides a broad view of how changes in climate and weather affect bears, few studies have evaluated how those changes impact human-bear interactions, which is critical for effective bear management and maintaining human-bear coexistence. To bridge this information gap, researchers from the USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, and Alaska Science Center conducted a systematic literature review that was recently published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation. This synthesis provides a foundation for identifying climate drivers of bear ecology, conditions conducive to human-bear interactions, and adaptive management strategies. Given the influence of climate on different aspects of bears ecology, incorporating climate change considerations into bear management plans can help managers strategically allocate resources and promote human-bear coexistence.

The Management Committee works closely with IBA Council to develop programs and resources for managers. Management Committee Co-Chairs are Becca Carniello (Game Biologist, Nevada Department of Wildlife) and David Telesco (Bear Management Program Coordinator, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission).

If you are interested in finding out more about the IBA management committee see:
www.bearbiology.org/about/managers-corner/

Proceedings from eastern and western black bear or the human-bear conflicts workshops are located here:
https://www.bearbiology.org/iba-publi...

YouTube Channel: ‪@IBAbearbiology‬