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Abstract:
The data show hair concentrations of total mercury (THg) from adult (>4 years) female polar bears from the Norwegian Arctic (Svalbard archipelago; n=41) captured between 2008/2011 and 2016, and in male and female polar bears from the Russian Arctic (Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and Chukchi Sea; n=58) of unknown age. All of the Norwegian and 42 of the Russian samples were additionally analysed for stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) to approximate feeding habits. The dataset was used to explore spatial variation within the Norwegian and Russian Arctic in relation to feeding habits.
In version 2 of the data file (update 2022-02-07) information on capture date and bear status (immobilized/ remains/shed hair) has been appended.
Quality
The spatial reference points in the Norwegian Arctic were centroid home range positions calculated from tracks recorded by GPS collars and averaged for bears that had more than one collar (columns transCenLAT/LON in the dataset). For the Russian bears, latitude and longitude of capture position (LAT.capt, LON.capt) were used as spatial references. The THg concentrations are given in µg/g hair, and stable isotopes in ‰. Polar bear length and girth is given in cm, and weight in kg. The breeding status in the Norwegian polar bears refers to females captured alone (n), with cubs of the year (c), or with one or two year old offspring (y, 2y). Empty cells in the column “SEX” belong to bears with unknown sex, those samples were found on the ground and additional biological information is unavailable.