USGS Alaska Science Center - Polar Bear Research Program 20210120 tabular digital data Anchorage, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Suggested Citation: USGS Alaska Science Center - Polar Bear Research Program, 2021, Fatty acid composition of polar bear adipose tissue and ringed and bearded seal blubber collected in the Chukchi Sea, 2008-2017: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P92CRWOP https://doi.org/10.5066/P92CRWOP These data are the fatty acid compositions (in percent) of adipose tissue samples collected from polar bears and of blubber samples collected from ringed and bearded seal killed by polar bears in the Chukchi Sea, 2008-2017. The dataset includes sex, age, and age class of the bears that were sampled. The data are provided as percent of each fatty acid identified via nomenclature that describes the structure of each fatty acid. These data were used to estimate polar bear diets using quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA). 2008 2017 observed Complete None planned Chukchi Sea 155.3 -111.1 82.5 66.9 USGS Metadata Identifier USGS:ASC343 ISO 19115 Topic Category Biota Environment NASA GCMD Earth Science Keyword Thesaurus Animals/Vertebrates Mammals Carnivores Bears Trophic Dynamics USGS CSA Biocomplexity Thesaurus Marine mammals Age composition Diets Wildlife food habits USGS Thesaurus Wildlife Marine ecosystems Coastal ecosystems None Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis QFASA Polar Bears Ursus maritimus Ringed Seal Pusa hispida Bearded Seal Erignathus barbatus USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Alaska Chukchi Sea None Mammals Carnivore ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System Unknown online database online ITIS-North America Taxonomic details retrieved October 16, 2022 from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System online database https://www.itis.gov https://doi.org/10.5066/F7KH0KBK Species were identified by skilled observers in the field based on general appearance. Polar bears and their marine mammal prey are not easily confused with other species. One exception is that prey remains from polar bear kills can sometimes not be identified. In those cases, we confirmed species identification via genetic analysis. Taxonomy is complete for all samples. No vouchers were collected. Kingdom Animalia Subkingdom Bilateria Infrakingdom Deuterostomia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Infraphylum Gnathostomata Superclass Tetrapoda Class Mammalia Subclass Theria Infraclass Eutheria Order Carnivora Suborder Caniformia Family Phocidae Genus Pusa Species Pusa hispida Ringed Seal TSN: 622018 Genus Erignathus Species Erignathus barbatus Bearded Seal ugruk TSN: 180655 Family Ursidae Genus Ursus Species Ursus maritimus Polar Bear TSN: 180542 No access constraints. No use constraints. We request that the suggested citation of this USGS data release be included in any publications that reference or utilize these data. U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Mailing and Physical

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Anchorage Alaska 99508 USA 907-786-7000 gs-ak_asc_datamanagers@usgs.gov Fatty acid composition of samples was determined in the Marine Lipids lab of Suzanne Budge at Dalhousie University. Rode, K.D. Regehr, E.V. Douglas, D.C. Durner, G. Derocher, A.E. Thiemann, G.W. Budge, S.M. 2014 journal article Global Change Biology 20(1):76-88 online Wiley Rode, K.D., Regehr, E.V., Douglas, D.C., Durner, G., Derocher, A.E., Thiemann, G.W., Budge, S.M., 2014. Variation in the response of an Arctic top predator experiencing habitat loss: feeding and reproductive ecology of two polar bear populations. Global Change Biology 20(1):76-88. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12339 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12339 Rode, K.D. Regehr, E.V. Bromaghin, J.F. Wilson, R.R. St. Martin, M. Crawford, J.A. Quakenbush, L.T. 2021 journal article Global Change Biology 27(12):2684-2701 online wiley Rode, K.D., Regehr, E.V., Bromaghin, J.F., Wilson, R.R., St. Martin, M., Crawford, J.A., Quakenbush, L.T., 2021. Seal body condition and atmospheric circulation patterns influence polar bear body condition, recruitment, and feeding ecology in the Chukchi Sea. Global Change Biology 27(12):2684-2701. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15572 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15572 Seal species was confirmed genetically if there was uncertainty in the field identification since samples were collected from polar bear kill sites rather than whole animals. The percentage of fatty acids in each sample may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Attribute values fall within expected ranges. Dataset is complete. No data were omitted and there are no missing data. METHODS - FIELD: Polar bears were captured in the area and via the methods described in Rode et al. (2014). Adipose tissue samples were collected from sedated polar bears using a 6 mm biopsy punch on either side of the tail. Blubber of ringed and bearded seals were collected at fresh polar bear kill sites encountered during annual spring polar bear capture efforts. All samples were collected in March or April 2008-2017. Unknown METHODS - LAB: Lipid was extracted from each polar bear adipose tissue sample and seal blubber sample, and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were prepared following Budge et al. (2006). FAME were analyzed in duplicate using temperature-programmed gas chromatography on a Perkin Elmer Autosystem II capillary gas chromatograph (GC) with a flame ionization detector (FID), using a polar column (Agilent Technologies, DB-23; 30 m x 0.25 mm ID; Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada). Additional details about laboratory analysis can be found in Budge et al. (2006). Unknown LITERATURE CITED: Budge, S.M., Iverson, S.J., Koopman, H.N., 2006. Studying trophic ecology in marine ecosystems using fatty acids: a primer on analysis and interpretation. Marine Mammal Science 22(4):759-801. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00079.x Rode, K.D., Regehr, E.V., Douglas, D.C., Durner, G., Derocher, A.E., Thiemann, G.W., Budge, S.M., 2014. Variation in the response of an Arctic top predator experiencing habitat loss: feeding and reproductive ecology of two polar bear populations. Global Change Biology 20(1):76-88. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12339 Rode, K.D., Wilson, R.R., Douglas, D.C., Muhlenbruch, V., Atwood, T.C., Regehr, E.V., Richardson, E.S., Pilfold, N.W., Derocher, A.E., Durner, G.M., Stirling, I., Amstrup, S.C., St. Martin, M., Pagano, A.M., Simac, K., 2018. Spring fasting behavior in a marine apex predator provides an index of ecosystem productivity. Global Change Biology 24(1):410-423. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13933 Unknown polarBear_sealPreyFattyAcids_chukchi_2008-2017_rode.csv Fatty acid composition of polar bear adipose tissue and ringed and bearded seal blubber collected in the Alaskan portion of the Chukchi Sea 2008-2017. Presented in a Comma Separated Value (CSV) formatted table. Author defined Year The year in which the sample was collected. Author defined 2008 2017 Year (YYYY) SamplingDate Date when the animal was sampled Author defined 2008-03-27 2017-04-20 Date (YYYY-MM-DD) unknown The exact date in which the sample was collected is not known. Author defined Species The common name of the animal species sampled. Taxonomic details are provided in the Taxonomy section of this metadata record. Author defined Polar bear Sample from a polar bear. Author defined Ringed seal Sample from a ringed seal. Author defined Bearded seal Sample from a bearded seal Author defined AgeClass Age class of sampled animal based on the estimated or known age. Known age bears were determined from teeth cementum. Estimated ages were from field observations. Author defined A Adult polar bear Author defined S Subadult polar bear Author defined nonpup The seal was non a pup (i.e. born that spring). It was an older seal. author defined. pup The seal was a pup. Author defined Sex Sex of the sampled bear. Sex of seal was not determined. Author defined F Female Author defined M Male Author defined unknown The sex of the animal sampled is unknown Author defined Age The age of the animal sampled. Author defined 3 27 years unknown The exact age of the animal was unknown. Author defined 12:00 through 24:01:00 These 62 columns represent the percentage of mass of 62 different fatty acids identified from each adipose tissue or blubber sample. The percentage of fatty acids in each sample may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Fatty acids consist of a chain of 14-24 carbons with 0-6 double bonds and a methyl terminus at one end (CH3) and an acid (carboxyl) at the other. Fatty acids are named with shorthand notation A:Bn-x where A indicates the number of carbon atoms, B is the number of double bonds, and x indicates the position of the first double bond relative to the terminal methyl group (Budge et al. 2006). A methyl branch at the second carbon is indicated by prefacing the FA name with an "i" representing "iso" or "ai" (anti-iso) which indicates a methyl branch at the third carbon. More details on fatty acid nomenclature and structures are provided in Budge et al. (2006). Fatty acid names and order of presentation: 12:00, 13:00, i-14:0, 14:00, 14:1n-9, 14:1n-7, 14:1n-5, i-15:0, ai-15:0, 15:00, 16:00, 16:1n-11, 16:1n-9, 16:1n-7, 16:1n-5, 17:1(a), 16:2n-6, ai-17:0, 17:1(b), 16:2n-4, 17:00, 16:3n-4, 17:01, 16:4n-3, 16:4n-1, 18:00, 18:1n-13, 18:1n-11, 18:1n-9, 18:1n-7, 18:1n-5, 18:2d5,11, 18:2n-7, 18:2n-6, 18:2n-4, 18:3n-6, 18:3n-4, 18:3n-3, 18:3n-1, 18:4n-3, 18:4n-1, 20:00, 20:1n-11, 20:1n-9, 20:1n-7, 20:2n-9, 20:2n-6, 20:3n-6, 20:4n-6, 20:3n-3, 20:4n-3, 20:5n-3, 22:1n-11, 22:1n-9, 22:1n-7, 21:5n-3, 22:4n-6, 22:5n-6, 22:4n-3, 22:5n-3, 22:6n-3, 24:01:00 Author defined 0.00 41.64 Percentage of each fatty acid in each sample U.S. Geological Survey USGS ScienceBase Team Mailing and Physical

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Denver Colorado 80225 USA 1-888-275-8747 sciencebase@usgs.gov The U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center is the authoritative source of these data, distributed by ScienceBase (a USGS Trusted Digital Repository). Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes or on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. CSV Tabular data in CSV format; FGDC metadata in XML and HTML formats. https://doi.org/10.5066/P92CRWOP None 20250114 U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Mailing and Physical

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Anchorage Alaska 99508 USA 907-786-7000 gs-ak_asc_datamanagers@usgs.gov FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) FGDC-STD-001.1-1999