Welcome back to Bear Necessities. In this episode, we journey into the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where I share novel information gained through meetings with National Park and Forest Rangers. I discuss the various forms of life that thrive within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, exploring the impacts of grizzly bears and black bears as they roam across vast expanses of wilderness and unravel the web of ecological relationships that sustains life in this historic landscape.

Sources

• Grizzly bears and the Endangered Species Act https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/bearesa.htm
• Grizzly bears https://www.fws.gov/species/grizzly-bear-ursus-arctos-horribilis
• Black bears - Yell NP https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/black-bear.htm
• Understanding and managing bears https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/managing.htm#:~:text=Through%20their%20foraging%20habits%2C%20bears,other%20prey%20species%20through%20predation.
• Grizzly bear-human conflicts in Yellowstone ecosystem 1992-2000 https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/1008613#:~:text=We%20recorded%20995%20grizzly%20bear,and%2041%25%20on%20private%20land.
• Bear safety https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/bearsafety.htm

Music from Tunetank.com

• Clair De Lune by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6508-clair-de-lune/
• Stay Together by Alexey Anisimov https://tunetank.com/track/5702-stay-together/
• Gymnopédie No.1 (Alternative Version) by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6521-null/
• The Seasons Op. 37 by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6517-the-Seasons-op-37/
• Consolation No. 3 S. 172 by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6511-consolation-no-3S-172/
• Preludes, Livre 1, CD 125, L.117: No.8, La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6513-null/
• Kinderszenen Op. 17 No. 7 by AndyWarner https://tunetank.com/track/6516-kinderszenen-op-7-no-7/

Welcome to the first episode of Bear Necessities! In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Christie Sampson to discuss her career in wildlife ecology and experience researching bears in North America. Some highlights of the episode include: poop food trucks, microplastics everywhere, what it means to be "bear aware", and why bears are considered keystone species.

See below for more information on the subjects discussed in today's episode as well as contact information.

• Grizzly and polar bears as nonconsumptive cultural keystone species https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2020-0089#:~:text=Grizzly%20bears%20and%20polar%20bears,species%20even%20where%20not%20hunted.
• Ingested microplastics: Do humans eat one credit card per week? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666911022000247#:~:text=Ingested%20Microplastic%20(MP)%20particles%20can,et%20al.%2C%202021).
• Salmon-supported bears, seed dispersal, and extensive resource subsidies to granivores https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.2297
• Microplastic inclusion in birch tree roots https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721071618
• Berry-gorging bears disperse seeds through scat and feed small mammals https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/berry-gorging-bears-disperse-seeds-through-scat-and-feed-small-mammals

Host: Kathryn Nash - Senior at University of the Ozarks

Guest: Dr. Christie Sampson - Assistant professor at University of the Ozarks