Management criteria for preventing biologically-significant noise disturbance in large terrestrial

mammals have not been developed based on a sound, empirical understanding of their sensory

ecology. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal denning areas on the coastal plain of Alaska’s North

Slope hold large petroleum reserves and will be subject to increased development in the future.

Anthropogenic noise could adversely affect polar bears by disrupting intra-specific communication,

altering habitat use, or causing behavioral and physiological stress. However, little is known about

the hearing of any large, carnivorous mammal, including bears; so, management criteria currently in

use to protect denning female polar bears may or may not be proportionate and effective. As part of a

comprehensive effort to develop efficient, defensible criteria we used behavioral psychoacoustic

methods to test in-air hearing sensitivity of five polar bears at frequencies between 125 Hz and 31.5

kHz. Results showed best sensitivity between 8 and 14 kHz. Sensitivity declined sharply between 14

and 25 kHz, suggesting an upper limit of hearing 10-20 kHz below that of small carnivores. Low

frequency sensitivity was comparable to that of the domestic dog, and a decline in functional hearing

was observed at 125 Hz. Thresholds will be used to develop efficient exposure metrics, which will be

needed increasingly as the Arctic is developed and effects of disturbance are intensified by

anticipated declines in polar bear health and reproduction associated with climate change driven sea

ice losses.

The pervasive perturbation of natural systems by human activities has rapidly changed the social context of many free-ranging animals, potentially reducing the efficiency of reproductive strategies, as well as the effective population size (Ne). Behavioral flexibility can be beneficial to species confronted with rapid contextual change, and the range of flexibility may ultimately influence whether a species can buy the time needed to respond adaptively to change. From the perspective of conservation management, an understanding of species' behavioral flexibility may improve predictions regarding the effects of rapid environmental change on populations, and facilitate the application of behavioral knowledge to conservation management. Fundamentally, an animal's decision-making processes are responsible for generating flexible behavioral responses, thus the lability of mechanisms underpinning decision-making influences the flexibility of behavioral responses. Here I evaluate the study of animal decision-making across scientific disciplines. I critically assess the use of animal decision-making in conservation and suggest ways in which decision theory could enhance conservation strategies. My empirical research is focused on the influence of social context on behavioral flexibility in the endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). The panda is a compelling species in which to study behavioral flexibility in the conservation context, because they are solitary, and females are seasonally-monoestrus and ovulate spontaneously. While energetic constraints play a prominent role in reproductive strategies, little is known regarding their mating system or the plasticity of reproductive behavior. Pandas are behaviorally expressive, using multiple modes of signaling during courtship, however, a holistic understanding of multimodal signaling in the species is lacking. Further, although populations are depleted throughout most of their range, the influence of social context on behavior and communication has not been described. Here we show that female signaling effort is generally lower in the exclusive presence of other females, suggesting that females can modify their behavioural efforts during the pre-ovulatory period according to the prevailing social context. We also found that multimodal signaling during social interactions did not consistently evoke an immediate, discrete response from receivers. Together these findings suggest that giant pandas demonstrate a limited degree of flexible behavioral responses dependent upon the prevailing social context.