Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements
Within their circumpolar range, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are not subject to absolute barriers. However, physiographic features do cause discontinuities in their movements. These discontinuities in distribution can be used to delineate population units. Based on satellite telemetry of the moveme...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
2001
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z01-028 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z01-028 |
id |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z01-028 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z01-028 2024-09-15T17:56:55+00:00 Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements Taylor, Mitchell K Akeeagok, Seeglook Andriashek, Dennis Barbour, William Born, Erik W Calvert, Wendy Cluff, H Dean Ferguson, Steve Laake, Jeff Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu Stirling, Ian Messier, François 2001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z01-028 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z01-028 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 79, issue 4, page 690-709 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2001 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z01-028 2024-07-18T04:13:35Z Within their circumpolar range, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are not subject to absolute barriers. However, physiographic features do cause discontinuities in their movements. These discontinuities in distribution can be used to delineate population units. Based on satellite telemetry of the movements of female polar bears carried out in 19891998, we used cluster analysis to identify 6 regions within the Canadian and western Greenland Arctic in which movements appear to be restricted enough to identify distinct populations. These regions generally correspond to management units that have been previously identified as Viscount Melville Sound, Lancaster Sound, Norwegian Bay, Kane Basin, Baffin Bay, and Davis Strait. A northsouth substructure was identified for the Baffin Bay population, but it was weaker than the structure identified for the 6 primary units. The 6 units were consistent with genetic information, except for the Baffin Bay Kane Basin separation, and with markrecapture observations and the traditional knowledge of Inuit hunters. Only 2 of 65 bears that provided telemetry information for more than 1 year were classified in different populations in different years. However, annual rates of exchange, measured as the percentage of locations outside the population boundary, ranged from 0.4 to 8.9%. Analysis of markrecapture movements indicated no difference in large-scale movements between the sexes or long-term movements with age. Although our validation criteria for demographic closure were satisfied, the observed rates of exchange between adjacent populations suggest that population dynamics in adjacent populations may not be completely independent. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Greenland inuit Kane Basin Lancaster Sound Norwegian Bay Norwegian Bay Ursus maritimus Viscount Melville Sound Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 79 4 690 709 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Within their circumpolar range, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are not subject to absolute barriers. However, physiographic features do cause discontinuities in their movements. These discontinuities in distribution can be used to delineate population units. Based on satellite telemetry of the movements of female polar bears carried out in 19891998, we used cluster analysis to identify 6 regions within the Canadian and western Greenland Arctic in which movements appear to be restricted enough to identify distinct populations. These regions generally correspond to management units that have been previously identified as Viscount Melville Sound, Lancaster Sound, Norwegian Bay, Kane Basin, Baffin Bay, and Davis Strait. A northsouth substructure was identified for the Baffin Bay population, but it was weaker than the structure identified for the 6 primary units. The 6 units were consistent with genetic information, except for the Baffin Bay Kane Basin separation, and with markrecapture observations and the traditional knowledge of Inuit hunters. Only 2 of 65 bears that provided telemetry information for more than 1 year were classified in different populations in different years. However, annual rates of exchange, measured as the percentage of locations outside the population boundary, ranged from 0.4 to 8.9%. Analysis of markrecapture movements indicated no difference in large-scale movements between the sexes or long-term movements with age. Although our validation criteria for demographic closure were satisfied, the observed rates of exchange between adjacent populations suggest that population dynamics in adjacent populations may not be completely independent. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Taylor, Mitchell K Akeeagok, Seeglook Andriashek, Dennis Barbour, William Born, Erik W Calvert, Wendy Cluff, H Dean Ferguson, Steve Laake, Jeff Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu Stirling, Ian Messier, François |
spellingShingle |
Taylor, Mitchell K Akeeagok, Seeglook Andriashek, Dennis Barbour, William Born, Erik W Calvert, Wendy Cluff, H Dean Ferguson, Steve Laake, Jeff Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu Stirling, Ian Messier, François Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
author_facet |
Taylor, Mitchell K Akeeagok, Seeglook Andriashek, Dennis Barbour, William Born, Erik W Calvert, Wendy Cluff, H Dean Ferguson, Steve Laake, Jeff Rosing-Asvid, Aqqalu Stirling, Ian Messier, François |
author_sort |
Taylor, Mitchell K |
title |
Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
title_short |
Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
title_full |
Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
title_fullStr |
Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
title_full_unstemmed |
Delineating Canadian and Greenland polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
title_sort |
delineating canadian and greenland polar bear ( ursus maritimus) populations by cluster analysis of movements |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z01-028 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z01-028 |
genre |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Greenland inuit Kane Basin Lancaster Sound Norwegian Bay Norwegian Bay Ursus maritimus Viscount Melville Sound |
genre_facet |
Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Greenland inuit Kane Basin Lancaster Sound Norwegian Bay Norwegian Bay Ursus maritimus Viscount Melville Sound |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 79, issue 4, page 690-709 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z01-028 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
79 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
690 |
op_container_end_page |
709 |
_version_ |
1810433095022673920 |