KelseyEbanks
Image 3
I took a photo of this amazing creature at North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro over spring break on March 9th. The polar bear is at the top of the food chain. There are three levels in food webs; basal species, intermediate species and top predators. He would be a top predator, also his functional response is type 1. Functional response is the relationship between per capital of consumption and the number of prey. Type 1 has a consumption rate that is constant. The reasons for that are passive predators, sit and wait or ambush, and all their time is spent feeding/ searching.
Polar bears are not effected by many parasites but they are affected by a few like Trichinella, roundworm. These species have a parasitic relationship. The polar bear is its' intermediate host.
There are also some viruses that have been detected in polar bears like, canine distemper, dolphin morbillivirus, phocine distemper, and porpoise morbillivirus. "Scientists believe that some polar bears will be more susceptible to disease due to the cumulative stresses of reduced prey opportunities from climate change, combined with a weakened immune system from pollution." Also global warming is causing the ice caps to melt which kills many young polar bears due to not being able to swim as long.
polarbearsinternational.org/climate-change/disease/
Image 3
I took a photo of this amazing creature at North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro over spring break on March 9th. The polar bear is at the top of the food chain. There are three levels in food webs; basal species, intermediate species and top predators. He would be a top predator, also his functional response is type 1. Functional response is the relationship between per capital of consumption and the number of prey. Type 1 has a consumption rate that is constant. The reasons for that are passive predators, sit and wait or ambush, and all their time is spent feeding/ searching.
Polar bears are not effected by many parasites but they are affected by a few like Trichinella, roundworm. These species have a parasitic relationship. The polar bear is its' intermediate host.
There are also some viruses that have been detected in polar bears like, canine distemper, dolphin morbillivirus, phocine distemper, and porpoise morbillivirus. "Scientists believe that some polar bears will be more susceptible to disease due to the cumulative stresses of reduced prey opportunities from climate change, combined with a weakened immune system from pollution." Also global warming is causing the ice caps to melt which kills many young polar bears due to not being able to swim as long.
polarbearsinternational.org/climate-change/disease/