Eric Regehr

Eric Regehr is a quantitative biologist that has spent 20 years studying the demography of terrestrial and marine wildlife populations. He develops and applies methods to estimate animal abundance and vital rates (e.g., survival and reproduction) and to understand the ecological impacts of climate change. Eric’s recent work has focused on sustainable harvest for wildlife populations experiencing habitat loss. He is interested in primary research, and— recognizing humans as a key part of many ecosystems—in applied methods to improve conservation and find management solutions that work for both animals and people. Eric joined the Polar Science Center as a Principal Quantitative Ecologist in 2017.

You can follow Eric on Twitter @EVRegehr.

In The News

Selected Publications

  • Regehr, E. V., M. C. R., Andrew Von Duyke, Ryan R Wilson, Lori Polasek, Karyn D Rode, Nathan J Hostetter, Sarah J
    Converse. 2021. Demographic risk assessment for a harvested species threatened by climate change: polar bears in the
    Chukchi Sea. Ecological Applications 0000:0000.

  • Regehr, E. V., M. Dyck, S. Iverson, D. S. Lee, N. J. Lunn, J. M. Northrup, M.‐C. Richer, G. Szor, and M. C. Runge. 2021.
    Incorporating climate change in a harvest risk assessment for polar bears Ursus maritimus in Southern Hudson Bay.
    Biological Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109128.

  • Rode, K. D., E. V. Regehr, J. F. Bromaghin, R. R. Wilson, M. S. Martin, J. A. Crawford, and L. T. Quakenbush. Seal body
    condition and atmospheric circulation patterns influence polar bear body condition, recruitment, and feeding ecology in
    the Chukchi Sea. Global Change Biology:18. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15572

  • Laidre, K. L., S. N. Atkinson, E. V. Regehr, H. L. Stern, E. W. Born, Ø. Wiig, N. J. Lunn, M. Dyck, P. Heagerty, and B. R.
    Cohen. 2020. Transient benefits of climate change for a high‐Arctic polar bear (Ursus maritimus) subpopulation. Global
    Change Biology 26:6251‐6265. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15286

  • Rode, K. D., T. C. Atwood, G. W. Thiemann, M. St Martin, R. R. Wilson, G. M. Durner, E. V. Regehr, S. L. Talbot, G. K. Sage,
    A. M. Pagano, and K. S. Simac. 2020. Identifying reliable indicators of fitness in polar bears. PLoS ONE 15:27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237444

  • Laidre, K. L., S. Atkinson, E. V. Regehr, H. L. Stern, E. W. Born, Ø. Wiig, N. J. Lunn, and M. Dyck. 2020. Interrelated
    ecological impacts of climate change on an apex predator. Ecological Applications 30:18.

  • Whiteman, J. P., H. J. Harlow, G. M. Durner, E. V. Regehr, S. C. Amstrup, and M. Ben-David. 2019. Heightened Immune System Function in Polar Bears Using Terrestrial Habitats. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 92:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1086/698996.

  • Regehr, E.V., Hostetter, N.J., Wilson, R.R., Rode, K.D., St. Martin, M., Converse, S.J. (2018), Integrated Population Modeling Provides the First Empirical Estimates of Vital Rates and Abundance for Polar Bears in the Chukchi Sea. Scientific Reports. 8: 16780, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34824-7

  • Laidre K. L.,  H. Stern, E. W. Born, P. Heagerty, S, Atkinson, Ø. Wiig, N. J. Lunn, E. V. Regehr, R. McGovern, M. Dyck. 2018.  Changes in winter and spring resource selection by polar bears Ursus maritimus in Baffin Bay over two decades of sea-ice loss. Endangered Species Research 36:1-14. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00886

  • Laidre K. L., E. W. Born, S. N. Atkinson, Ø. Wiig, L. W. Andersen, N. J. Lunn, M. Dyck, E. V. Regehr, R. McGovern and P. Heagerty. 2018.  Range contraction and increasing isolation of a polar bear subpopulation in an era of sea ice loss. Ecology and Evolution DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3809

  • Laidre, K. L. and E. V. Regehr. 2018. Arctic marine mammals. In “Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals” (Bernd Würsig, J.G.M. Thewissen, and Kit M. Kovacs, eds.), 3rd edition. Pp 34-40. Academic Press/Elsevier, San Diego, CA, USA.

  • Braund, S. R., P. B. Lawrence, E. G. Sears, R. K. Schraer, E. V. Regehr, B. Adams, R. T. Hepa, J. C. George, and A. L. V. Duyke. 2018. Polar Bear TEK: A Pilot Study to Inform Polar Bear Management Models. North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, Research Report NSB.DWM.RR.2018-01. Utqiaġvik, Alaska USA.

  • Rode, K. D., R. R. Wilson, D. C. Douglas, V. Muhlenbruch, T. C. Atwood, E. V. Regehr, E. S. Richardson, N. W. Pilfold, A. E.
    Derocher, G. M. Durner, I. Stirling, S. C. Amstrup, M. St Martin, A. M. Pagano, and K. Simac. 2018. Spring fasting behavior
    in a marine apex predator provides an index of ecosystem productivity. Global Change Biology 24:410‐423. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13933 

  • Ware, J.V., K.D. Rode, J.F. Bromaghin, D. Douglas, R.W. Wilson, E.V. Regehr, S.C. Amstrup, G. Durner, A. Pagano, J.Olson, C.T. Robbins, and H.T. Jansen. 2017. The behavioral response of polar bears to habitat degradation in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Oecologia. doi: 10.1007/s00442-017-3839-y

  • Regehr, E., R. Wilson, K. Rode, M. Runge, and H. Stern. 2017. Harvesting wildlife affected by climate change: a modeling and management framework for polar bears. Journal of Applied Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12864

  • Rode, K. D., S. C. Amstrup, and E. V. Regehr. 2010. Reduced body size and cub recruitment in polar bears associated with sea ice decline. Ecological Applications 20:768-782.

  • Hunter, C. M., H. Caswell, M. C. Runge, E. V. Regehr, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling. 2010. Climate change threatens polar bear populations: a stochastic demographic analysis. Ecology 91:2883-2897.

  • Laidre, K.L., and E.V. Regehr. 2017. Arctic marine mammals and sea ice. Pages 516-533 in D. Thomas (Ed.), Sea Ice 3rd Edition. West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.  ISBN: 978-1-118-77838-8

  • Regehr, E.V., Laidre, K.L., Akçakaya, H.R., Amstrup, S.C., Atwood, T.C., Lunn, N.J., Obbard, M., Stern, H., Thiemann, G.W., Wiig, Ø. (2016), Conservation status of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in relation to projected sea-ice declines. Biol. Lett. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0556.

  • Wilson, R.R., E.V. Regehr, K.D. Rode, and M. St. Martin. 2016. Invariant polar bear habitat selection during a period of sea ice loss. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283:20160380. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0380

  • Schliebe, S.L., B. Benter, E.V. Regehr, L. Quakenbush, J. Omelak, M. Nelson, and K. Nesvacil. 2016. Co-management of the Alaskan harvest of the Alaska-Chukotka polar bear subpopulation: How to implement a harvest quota. Wildlife Technical Bulletin ADF&G/DWC/WTB-2016-15. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau.

  • Lunn, N.J., S. Servanty, E.V. Regehr, S.J. Converse, E. Richardson, and I. Stirling. 2016. Population dynamics of an apex predator at the edge of its range – impacts of changing sea ice on polar bears in western Hudson Bay, Canada. Ecological Applications 26(5):1302-1320. DOI: 10.1890/15-1256

  • Conn, P.B., E. E. Moreland, E. V. Regehr, E. L. Richmond, F. Cameron, and P.L. Boveng. 2016. Using simulation to evaluate wildlife survey designs: polar bears and seals in the Chukchi Sea. Royal Society Open Science. doi:  10.1098/rsos.150561

  • Patyk, K.A., C. Duncan, P. Nol, C. Sonne, K. Laidre, M. Obbard, Ø. Wiig, J. Aars, E. Regehr, L.L. Gustafson, and T. Atwood. 2015. Establishing a definition of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) health: A guide to research and management activities. Science of the Total Environment 514:371-378.

  • Whiteman, J. P., H. J. Harlow, G. M. Durner, R. Anderson-Sprecher, S. E. Albeke, E. V. Regehr, S. C. Amstrup, and M. Ben-David. 2015. Summer declines in activity and body temperature offer polar bears limited energy savings. Science 349:295-298.                     DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa8623

  • Rode KD, Wilson RR, Regehr EV, St. Martin M, Douglas DC, Olson J (2015) Increased Land Use by Chukchi Sea Polar Bears in Relation to Changing Sea Ice Conditions. PLoS ONE 10(11): e0142213. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142213

  • Regehr, E. V., R. R. Wilson, K. D. Rode, and M. C. Runge. 2015. Resilience and risk—A demographic model to inform conservation planning for polar bears. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015-1029, 56 p., https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2015/1029/pdf/ofr2015-1029.pdf.

  • Peacock, E., S. A. Sonsthagen, M. E. Obbard, A. Boltunov, E. V. Regehr, N. Ovsyanikov, J. Aars, S. N. Atkinson, G. K. Sage, A. G. Hope, E. Zeyl, L. Bachmann, D. Ehrich, K. T. Scribner, S. C. Amstrup, S. Belikov, E. W. Born, A. E. Derocher, I. Stirling, M. K. Taylor, O. Wiig, D. Paetkau, and S. L. Talbot. 2015. Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic. Plos One 10(1): e112021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112021

  • Crait, J.C., E.V. Regehr, and M. Ben-David. 2015. Indirect effects of bioinvasions in Yellowstone Lake: The response of river otters to declines in native cutthroat trout. Biological Conservation 191:596-605. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.07.042

  • Bromaghin, J. F., T. L. McDonald, I. Stirling, A. E. Derocher, E. S. Richardson, E. V. Regehr, D. C. Douglas, G. M. Durner, T. Atwood, and S. C. Amstrup. 2015. Polar bear population dynamics in the southern Beaufort Sea during a period of sea ice decline. Ecological Applications 25:634-651. DOI: 10.1890/14-1129.1

  • Laidre, K. L., Stern, H., Kovacs, K. M., Lowry, L., Moore, S. E., Regehr, E. V., Ferguson, S. H., Wiig, Ø., Boveng, P., Angliss, R. P., Born, E. W., Litovka, D., Quakenbush, L., Lydersen, C., Vongraven, D. and Ugarte, F. (2015), Arctic marine mammal population status, sea ice habitat loss, and conservation recommendations for the 21st century. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12474

  • Wilson, R. R., J. S. Horne, K. D. Rode, E. V. Regehr, and G. M. Durner. 2014. Identifying polar bear resource selection patterns to inform offshore development in a dynamic and changing Arctic. Ecosphere 5(10):136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00193.1

  • Rode, K. D., Regehr, E. V., Douglas, D. C., Durner, G., Derocher, A. E., Thiemann, G. W. and 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. Glob Change Biol, 20: 76–88. doi:10.1111/gcb.12339

  • Stirling, I., T. L. McDonald, E. S. Richardson, E. V. Regehr, and S. C. Amstrup. 2011. Polar bear population status in the northern Beaufort Sea, Canada, 1971-2006. Ecological Applications 21:859-876.

  • Regehr, E. V., C. M. Hunter, H. Caswell, S. C. Amstrup, and I. Stirling. 2010. Survival and breeding of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea in relation to sea ice. Journal of Animal Ecology 79:117-127.

  • Regehr, E. V., N. J. Lunn, S. C. Amstrup, and L. Stirling. 2007. Effects of earlier sea ice breakup on survival and population size of polar bears in western Hudson Bay. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:2673-2683.

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