Editing Polar bear (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Polar bear subpopulation map.svg|thumb|right|Map of 19 polar bear subpopulations. The Queen Elizabeth Islands (QE) subpopulation is not universally accepted.<ref name=statusreport/>]]
Polar bears inhabit the [[Arctic]] and adjacent areas. Their range includes Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Russia and the [[Svalbard Archipelago]] of Norway.<ref name="DeMaster1981"/>{{sfn|Ellis|2009|pp=73, 140}}{{sfn|Derocher|2012|p=3}} Polar bears have been recorded as close as {{cvt|25|km}} from the [[North Pole]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=van Meurs|first1=R.|last2=Splettstoesser|first2=J. F.|year=1993|title=Letter to the editor: farthest north polar bear|journal=Arctic|volume=56|issue=3|page=309|doi=10.14430/arctic626|doi-access=free}}</ref> The southern limits of their range include [[James Bay]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] in Canada and [[St. Matthew Island]] and the [[Pribilof Islands]] of Alaska.<ref name="DeMaster1981"/> They are not permanent residents of Iceland but have been recorded visiting there if they can reach it via sea ice.{{sfn|Ellis|2009|pp=122–124}} As there has been minimal human encroachment on the bears' remote habitat, they can still be found in much of their original range, more of it than any other large land carnivore.<ref name="derocher2004">{{cite journal|last1=Derocher|first1=Andrew E.|last2=Lunn|first2=Nicholas J.|last3=Stirling|first3=Ian|year=2004|title=Polar bears in a warming climate|journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology|volume=44|issue=2|pages=163–176|doi=10.1093/icb/44.2.163|pmid=21680496|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Polar bears have been divided into at least 18 subpopulations labelled East Greenland (ES), [[Barents Sea]] (BS), [[Kara Sea]] (KS), [[Laptev Sea]] (LVS), [[Chukchi Sea]] (CS), northern and southern [[Beaufort Sea]] (SBS and NBS), [[Viscount Melville Sound|Viscount Melville]] (VM), [[M'Clintock Channel]] (MC), [[Gulf of Boothia]] (GB), [[Lancaster Sound]] (LS), [[Norwegian Bay]] (NB), [[Kane Basin]] (KB), [[Baffin Bay]] (BB), [[Davis Strait]] (DS), [[Foxe Basin]] (FB) and the western and southern [[Hudson Bay]] (WHB and SHB) populations.<ref name=Peacock2015>{{cite journal|last1=Peacock|first1=E.|last2=Sonsthagen|first2=S. A.|last3=Obbard|first3=M. E.|last4=Boltunov|first4=A.|last5=Regehr|first5=E. V.|last6=Ovsyanikov|first6=N.|last7=Aars|first7=J.|last8=Atkinson|first8=S. N.|last9=Sage|first9=G. K.|last10=Hope|first10=A. G.|last11=Zeyl|first11=E.|last12=Bachmann|first12=L.|last13=Ehrich|first13=D.|last14=Scribner|first14=K. T.|last15=Amstrup|first15=S. C.|last16=Belikov|first16=S.|last17=Born|first17=E. W.|last18=Derocher|first18=A. E.|last19=Stirling|first19=I.|last20=Taylor|first20=M. K.|last21=Wiig|first21=Ø|last22=Paetkau|first22=D.|last23=Talbot|first23=S. L.|year=2015|title=Implications of the circumpolar genetic structure of polar bears for their conservation in a rapidly warming Arctic|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=10|issue=1|page=e112021|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0112021|pmid=25562525|pmc=4285400|bibcode=2015PLoSO..10k2021P|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=statusreport/> Bears in and around the [[Queen Elizabeth Islands]] have been proposed as a subpopulation but this is not universally accepted.<ref name=statusreport/> A 2022 study has suggested that the bears in southeast Greenland should be considered a different subpopulation based on their geographic isolation and genetics.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Laidre|first1=K. L.|last2=Supple|first2=M. A.|last3=Born|first3=E. W.|last4=Regehr|first4=E. V.|last5=Wiig|first5=Ø|last6=Ugarte|first6=F.|last7=Aars|first7=J.|last8=Dietz|first8=R.|last9=Sonne|first9=C.|last10=Hegelund|first10=P.|last11=Isaksen|first11=C.|last12=Akse|first12=G. B.|last13=Cohen|first13=B.|last14=Stern|first14=H. L.|last15=Moon|first15=T.|last16=Vollmers|first16=C.|last17=Corbett-Detig|first17=R.|last18=Paetkau|first18=D.|last19=Shapiro|first19=B.|year=2022|title=Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions|journal=Science|volume=376|issue=6599|pages=1333–1338|doi=10.1126/science.abk2793|pmid=35709290 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1333L |s2cid=249746650 |url=https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/53746 }}</ref> Polar bear populations can also be divided into four [[gene cluster]]s: Southern Canadian, [[Arctic Archipelago|Canadian Archipelago]], Western Basin (northwestern Canada west to the [[Russian Far East]]) and Eastern Basin (Greenland east to Siberia).<ref name=Peacock2015/>

The polar bear is dependent enough on the ocean to be considered a [[marine mammal]].<ref name=":0"/>{{sfn|Stirling|2011|p=XIII}} It is [[pagophilic]] and mainly inhabits annual [[sea ice]] covering [[continental shelf|continental shelves]] and between islands of [[archipelagos]]. These areas, known as the "Arctic Ring of Life", have high [[Productivity (ecology)|biological productivity]].<ref name="derocher2004"/>{{sfn|Stirling|2011|pp=9–10}} The species tends to frequent areas where sea ice meets water, such as [[polynya]]s and [[lead (sea ice)|leads]], to hunt the [[pinniped|seals]] that make up most of its diet.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stirling |first1=Ian |year=1997 |title=The importance of polynyas, ice edges, and leads to marine mammals and birds |volume=10 |issue=1–4 |pages=9–21 |doi=10.1016/S0924-7963(96)00054-1 |journal=Journal of Marine Systems|bibcode=1997JMS....10....9S }}</ref> Polar bears travel in response to changes in ice cover throughout the year. They are forced onto land in summer when the sea ice disappears.{{sfn|Stirling|2011|p=9}} Terrestrial habitats used by polar bears include forests, mountains, rocky areas, lakeshores and creeks.{{sfn|Derocher|2012|pp=67–68}} In the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, where the sea ice breaks off and floats north during the summer, polar bears generally stay on the ice, though a large portion of the population (15&ndash;40%) has been observed spending all summer on land since the 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rode |first1=Karyn D. |last2=Douglas |first2=D. C. |last3=Atwood |first3=T. C. |last4=Durner |first4=G. M. |last5=Wilson |first5=R. R. |last6=Pagano |first6=A. M. |date=December 2022 |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=40 |title=Observed and forecasted changes in land use by polar bears in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, 1985–2040 |page=e02319|doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02319 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022GEcoC..4002319R }}</ref> Some areas have thick [[Sea ice#Old sea ice|multiyear]] ice that does not completely melt and the bears can stay on all year,<ref name=Vongraven>{{cite journal|last1=Vongraven|first1=D.|last2=Aars|first2=J.|last3=Amstrup|first3=S.|last4=Atkinson|first4=S. N.|last5=Belikov|first5=S.|last6=Born|first6=E. W.|last7=DeBruyn|first7=T. D.|last8=Derocher|first8=A. E.|last9=Durner|first9=G.|last10=Gill|first10=M.|last11=Lunn|first11=N.|last12=Obbard|first12=M. E.|last13=Omelak|first13=J.|last14=Ovsyanikov|first14=N.|last15=Peacock|first15=E.|last16=Richardson|first16=E.|last17=Sahanatien|first17=V.|last18=Stirling|first18=I.|last19=Wiig|first19=Ø|year=2012|title=A circumpolar monitoring framework for polar bears|journal=Ursus: Monograph Series Number 5|volume=23|issue=2 |pages=1–66|doi=10.2192/URSUS-D-11-00026.1|bibcode=2012Ursus..23....1V |s2cid=67812839}}</ref>{{sfn|Stirling|2011|p=4}} though this type of ice has fewer seals and allows for less productivity in the water.{{sfn|Stirling|2011|p=4}}