Scientific publications from previous efforts by Bear Center personnel or by outside investigators using the captive bears at Washington State University
The following publications largely reflect cooperative efforts between MS and PhD-level graduate students, their faculty advisors, and state and federal bear biologists. Thus far, 17 graduate students at Washington State University, two from the University of Idaho, one from Texas A&M, and one from Michigan Technological University have completed their degree programs while working at the Bear Center.
1. Studies of the Interaction Between Bears, Food Resources, People, and the Health of the Larger Ecosystem
Fortin, J.K., S.D. Farley, K.D. Rode, and C.T. Robbins. 2007. Dietary and spatial overlap between sympatric ursids relative to salmon use. Ursus 18:19-29.
Rode, K.D., S.D. Farley, J.K. Fortin, and C.T. Robbins. 2007. Nutritional consequences of experimentally introduced tourism in brown bears. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:929-939.
Robbins C.T., C.C. Schwartz, K.A. Gunther, and C. Servheen. 2006. Grizzly bear nutrition and ecology studies in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone Science 14:19-26.
Rode, K.D., S.D. Farley, and C.T. Robbins. 2006. Behavioral responses of brown bears mediate nutritional impacts of experimentally introduced tourism. Biological Conservation 133:70-80.
Rode, K.D., S.D. Farley, and C.T. Robbins. 2006. Sexual dimorphism, reproductive strategy, and human activities determine resource use by brown bears. Ecology 87:2636-2646.
Tollefson, T. N., C. Matt, J. Meehan, and C. T. Robbins. 2005. Quantifying spatiotemporal overlap of Alaskan brown bears and people. Journal of Wildllife Management 69:810-817.
Hilderbrand, G. V., S. D. Farley, C. C. Schwartz, and C. T. Robbins. 2004. Importance of salmon to wildlife: Implications for integrated management. Ursus 15:1-9.
Felicetti, L. A., R. O. Rye, C. C. Schwartz, M. A. Haroldson, K. A. Gunther, D. L. Phillips, and C. T. Robbins. 2003. Use of sulfur and nitrogen stable isotopes to determine the importance of whitebark pine nuts toYellowstone grizzly bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81:763-770.
Felicetti, L. A., R. O. Rye, C. C. Schwartz, M. A. Haroldson, K. A. Gunther, L. Waits, and C. T. Robbins. 2003. Use of naturally occurring mercury to determine the importance of cutthroat trout to Yellowstone grizzly bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82:493-501.
Partridge, S. T., D. L. Nolte, G. J. Ziegltrum, and C. T. Robbins. 2000. Impacts of supplemental feeding on the nutritional ecology of black bears. Journal of Wildlife Management 65:191-199.
Jacoby, M. E., G. V. Hilderbrand, C. Servheen, C. C. Schwartz, S. M. Arthur, T. A. Hanley, C. T. Robbins, and R. Michener. 1999. Trophic relations of brown and black bears in several western North American ecosystems. Journal of Wildlife Management 63:921-929.
Hilderbrand, G. V., C. C. Schwartz, C. T. Robbins, M. E. Jacoby, T. A. Hanley, S. M. Arthur, and C. Servheen. 1999. Importance of meat, particularly salmon, to body size, population productivity and conservation of North American brown bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:132-138.
Hilderbrand, G. V., S. G. Jenkins, C. C. Schwartz, T. A. Hanley, and C. T. Robbins. 1999. Effect of seasonal differences in dietary meat intake on changes in body mass and composition in wild and captive brown bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1623-1630.
Hilderbrand, G. V., T. A. Hanley, C. T. Robbins, and C. C. Schwartz. 1999. Role of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the flow of marine nitrogen into a terrestral ecosystem. Oecologia 121:546-550.
2. Basic Studies of Bear Nutrition and Foraging Ecology
Robbins, C.T., J.K. Fortin, K.D. Rode, S.D. Farley, L.A. Shipley, and L.A. Felicetti. 2007. Optimizing protein intake as a foraging strategy to maximize mass gain in an omnivore. Oikos 116:1675-1682.
Searle, K. R., T. Vandervelde, N. T. Hobbs, L. A. Shipley, and B. A. Wunder. 2006. Spatial context influences patch residence time in foraging hierarchies. Oecologia 148:710-719.
Robbins, C. T., L. A. Felicetti, and M. Sponheimer. 2005. Understanding nitrogen isotope discrimination in mammals and birds. Oecologia 144:534-540.
Robbins, C. T., C. C. Schwartz, and L. A. Felicetti. 2004. Nutritional ecology of ursids: A review of newer methods and management implications. Ursus 15:161-171.
Felicetti, L. A., C. T. Robbins, and L. A. Shipley. 2003. Dietary protein content alters energy expenditure and composition of the gain in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 76:256-261.
Hobbs, N. T., J. E. Gross, L. A. Shipley, D. E. Spalinger, and B. A. Wunder. 2003. Herbivore functional response in heterogeneous environments: A contest among models. Ecology 84:666-681.
Robbins, C. T., G. V. Hilderbrand, and S. D. Farley. 2002. Incorporating concentration dependence in stable isotope mixing models: A response to Phillips and Koch (2001). Oecologia 133:10-13.
Rode, K. D., C. T. Robbins, and L. A. Shipley. 2001. Constraints on herbivory by grizzly bears. Oecologia 128:62-71.
Jenkins, S. G., S. T. Partridge, T. R. Stephenson, S. D. Farley, and C. T. Robbins. 2001. Nitrogen and carbon isotope fractionation between mothers, neonates, and nursing offspring. Oecologia 129:336-341.
Hilderbrand, G. V., C. C. Schwartz, C. T. Robbins, and T. A. Hanley. 2000. Effect of hibernation and reproductive status on body mass and condition of coastal brown bears. Journal of Wildlife Management 64:178-183.
Rode, K. D., and C. T. Robbins. 2000. Why bears consume mixed diets during fruit abundance. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:1640-1645.
Hilderbrand, G. V., C. T. Robbins, and S. D. Farley. 1999. Response to Bocherens’ comments on “Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears.” Canadian Journal of Zoology 76:2301-2303.
Hilderbrand, G. V., S. D. Farley, and C. T. Robbins. l998. Predicting body condition of bears via two field methods. Journal of Wildlife Management 62:406-409.
Hilderbrand, G. V., S. D. Farley, and C. T. Robbins. l998. Predicting body condition of bears via two field methods. Journal of Wildlife Management 62:406-409.
Farley, S. D. and C. T. Robbins. 1997. Validation of 22sodium to estimate food intake of bears. Journal of Wildlife Management 61:52-56.
Welch, C. A., J. Keay, K. C. Kendall, and C. T. Robbins. 1997. Constraints on frugivory by bears. Ecology 78:1105-1119.
Farley, S. D. and C. T. Robbins. 1997. Validation of 22sodium to estimate food intake of bears. Journal of Wildlife Management 61:52-56.
Hilderbrand, G. V., S. D. Farley, C.T. Robbins, T. A. Hanley, K. Titus, and C. Servheen. 1996. Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74:2080-2088.
Hewitt, D. G. and C. T. Robbins. 1996. Estimating grizzly bear food habits from fecal analysis. Wildlife Society Bulletin 24:547-550.
Farley, S.D. and C.T. Robbins. 1994. Development of two methods to estimate body composition of bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 72: 220-226.
Shipley, L. A., J. E. Gross, D. E. Spalinger, N. T. Hobbs, and B. A. Wunder. 1994. The scaling of intake rate of mammalian herbivores. American Naturalist 143:1055-1082.
Hagerman, A. E., and C. T. Robbins. 1993. Specificity of tannin-binding salivary proteins relative to diet selection by mammals. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:628-633.
Gross, J. E., L. A. Shipley, N. T. Hobbs, D. E. Spalinger, and B. A. Wunder. 1993. Foraging by herbivores in food-concentrated patches: tests of a mechanistic model of functional response. Ecology 74: 778-791.
Robbins, C. T., A. E. Hagerman, P. J. Austin, C. McArthur, and T. A. Hanley. 1991. Variation in mammalian physiological responses to a condensed tannin and its ecological implications. Journal of Mammalogy 72:480-486.
Pritchard, G. T. and C. T. Robbins. 1990. Digestive and metabolic efficiencies of grizzly and black bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68:1645-1651.
3. Physiological and Nutritional Studies of Hibernation
McGee, M.E., A.J. Maki, S.E. Johnson, O.L. Nelson, C.T. Robbins, and S.W. Donahue. 2008. Decreased bone turnover with balanced resorption and formation prevent cortical bone loss during disuse (hibernation) in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis). Bone 42:396-404.
Hershey, J.D., C.T. Robbins, O.L. Nelson, and D.C. Lin. 2007. Minimal seasonal alterations in the skeletal muscle of captive brown bears. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (in press).
Donahue, S. W., M. E. McGee, K. B. Harvey, M. R. Vaughan, and C. T. Robbins. 2006. Hibernating bears as a model for preventing disuse osteoporosis. Journal of Biomechanics 39:1480-1488.
Nelson, O. L., and C. T. Robbins. 2005. Comparison of echocardiography-guided and fluoroscopy-guided endomyocardial biopsy techniques. Veterinary Radiology and Ultrasound 46:131-134.
Nelson, O. L., M-M. McEwen, C. T. Robbins, L. A. Felicetti, and W. F. Christensen. 2003. Cardiac function in active and hibernating grizzly bears. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 223:1170-1175.
Barboza, P. S., S. D. Farley, and C. T. Robbins. l998. Whole-body urea cycling and protein turnover during hyperphagia and dormancy in growing bears (Ursus americanus and U. arctos). Canadian Journal of Zoology 75:2129-2136.
Farley, S.D. and C.T. Robbins. 1995. Lactation, hibernation, and mass dynamics of American black bears and grizzly bears. Canadian Journal of Zoology 73:2216-2222.
4. Genetic Studies
Murphy, M. A., K. C. Kendall, A. Robbinson, and L. P. Waits. 2007. The impact of time and field conditions on brown bear (Ursus arctos) faecal DNA amplification. Conservation Genetics 8:1219-1224.
Roon, D. A., M. E. Thomas, K. C. Kendall, and L. P. Waits 2005. Evaluating mixed samples as a source of error in non-invasive genetic studies using microsatellites. Molecular Ecology 14:195-201.
Murphy, M., L. Waits, and K. Kendall. 2003. Impact of diet on faecal DNA amplification and sex identification brown bears (Ursus arctos) . Molecular Ecology 12:2261-2265.
Roon D, L. P. Waits, and K. Kendall. 2003. A quantitative evaluation of two methods for preserving hair samples. Molecular Ecology Notes 3:163-166.
Murphy, M., L. P. Waits, K. Kendall, S. Wasser, J. Higbee, and R. Bogden. 2002. An evaluation of long-term preservation methods for brown bear (Ursus arctos) faecal DNA samples. Conservation Genetics 3:435-440.
Murphy, M., L. P. Waits, and K. Kendall. 2000. Quantitative evaluation of drying methods for brown bear fecal samples. Wildlife Society Bulletin28:951-957.
5. Reports on Veterinary Care of Bears
Tobias, K. S., C. T. Robbins, and W. T. Ferner. 1996. Treatment of cellulitis in an American black bear (Ursus americanus) with antibiotic - impregnated implants. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 27:109-114.