Brown Bear Summer Use of Alpine Habitat on the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge

January 1, 1980

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Brown bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi) alpine summer habitat use patterns were studied at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in 1973, 1974, and 1975. Seven plant communities were described and mapped within the alpine and subalpine zones of the 56.5-km2 study area. Single bears and family groups showed an almost exclusive preference for Carex macrochaeta as the primary food. Alpine activity areas, determined for 29 individually identified bears, were small; those of lone adults were twice the size of those females with young, 1.70 and 0.85 km2, respectively. The average density was 0.85 bear/km2 but rose to 2.60 bear/km2 in an area where animals concentrated to feed. Bears spent 5-6 weeks in the high mountains, abruptly departing when young Carex macrochaeta plants were no longer being produced.

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