In pursuit of the polar bear – An exploration of ecosystem services and disservices and adaptive management needs

The polar bear has become an iconic species of the Arctic in an era of accelerating climate change. While polar bears are well-studied as a species, particularly regarding their physiology, population dynamics, and climate change impacts, their broader socio-ecological contributions to ecosystem processes and human well-being have been underexplored. This systematic literature review, conducted using the Search Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis method, explores the ecosystem services and disservices of polar bears. These are categorised according to the Common International Classification for Ecosystem Services and the Composite Ecosystem Disservices frameworks, which are utilised to consider appropriate management interventions for sustaining human well-being and minimising risks to health, safety, society, culture, and economies. The review finds that polar bears contribute to and provide important provisioning, regulating and maintenance ecosystem services, as well as cultural ecosystem services, especially in the context of Arctic Indigenous communities where hunting remains an essential practice to ensure food security and cultural continuity. However, climate-exacerbated ecosystem disservices, including human-wildlife conflicts, management costs, subsistence hunting disruptions, and potential ecological imbalances pose risks to human safety, economic stability, and cultural continuity. The management implications highlight the importance of integrated, proactive strategies, including the application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and scientific knowledge to determine sustainable harvest quotas and aid habitat protection given climate change impacts, together with reactive strategies, such as conducting polar bear patrols and adjusting hunting seasons to avoid human-wildlife conflicts. This study underscores the importance of carefully balancing ecosystem services and disservices to ensure polar bear conservation supports human well-being amidst a rapidly changing Arctic.