Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia
Genetic studies of the Eurasian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) have so far focused on populations from Europe and North America, although the largest distribution area of brown bears is in Asia. In this study, we reveal population genetic parameters for the brown bear population inhabiting the Grand Ka...
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crpeerj:10.7717/peerj.5660 2024-09-15T18:40:13+00:00 Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia Ambarlı, Hüseyin Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz Fickel, Jörns Förster, Daniel W. Nature Conservation Centre Artvin Regional Directory of Forestry Bayburt Provincial Directory of Forestry Department of Wildlife Kaçkar Mountains Sustainable Forest Use and Conservation Project in Artvin 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5660 https://peerj.com/articles/5660.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/5660.xml https://peerj.com/articles/5660.html en eng PeerJ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PeerJ volume 6, page e5660 ISSN 2167-8359 journal-article 2018 crpeerj https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5660 2024-07-30T04:13:46Z Genetic studies of the Eurasian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) have so far focused on populations from Europe and North America, although the largest distribution area of brown bears is in Asia. In this study, we reveal population genetic parameters for the brown bear population inhabiting the Grand Kaçkar Mountains (GKM) in the north east of Turkey, western Lesser Caucasus. Using both hair ( N = 147) and tissue samples ( N = 7) collected between 2008 and 2014, we found substantial levels of genetic variation (10 microsatellite loci). Bear samples (hair) taken from rubbing trees worked better for genotyping than those from power poles, regardless of the year collected. Genotyping also revealed that bears moved between habitat patches, despite ongoing massive habitat alterations and the creation of large water reservoirs. This population has the potential to serve as a genetic reserve for future reintroductions in the Middle East. Due to the importance of the GKM population for on-going and future conservation actions, the impacts of habitat alterations in the region ought to be minimized; e.g., by establishing green bridges or corridors over reservoirs and major roads to maintain habitat connectivity and gene flow among populations in the Lesser Caucasus. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos PeerJ Publishing PeerJ 6 e5660 |
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English |
description |
Genetic studies of the Eurasian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) have so far focused on populations from Europe and North America, although the largest distribution area of brown bears is in Asia. In this study, we reveal population genetic parameters for the brown bear population inhabiting the Grand Kaçkar Mountains (GKM) in the north east of Turkey, western Lesser Caucasus. Using both hair ( N = 147) and tissue samples ( N = 7) collected between 2008 and 2014, we found substantial levels of genetic variation (10 microsatellite loci). Bear samples (hair) taken from rubbing trees worked better for genotyping than those from power poles, regardless of the year collected. Genotyping also revealed that bears moved between habitat patches, despite ongoing massive habitat alterations and the creation of large water reservoirs. This population has the potential to serve as a genetic reserve for future reintroductions in the Middle East. Due to the importance of the GKM population for on-going and future conservation actions, the impacts of habitat alterations in the region ought to be minimized; e.g., by establishing green bridges or corridors over reservoirs and major roads to maintain habitat connectivity and gene flow among populations in the Lesser Caucasus. |
author2 |
Nature Conservation Centre Artvin Regional Directory of Forestry Bayburt Provincial Directory of Forestry Department of Wildlife Kaçkar Mountains Sustainable Forest Use and Conservation Project in Artvin |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ambarlı, Hüseyin Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz Fickel, Jörns Förster, Daniel W. |
spellingShingle |
Ambarlı, Hüseyin Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz Fickel, Jörns Förster, Daniel W. Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
author_facet |
Ambarlı, Hüseyin Mengüllüoğlu, Deniz Fickel, Jörns Förster, Daniel W. |
author_sort |
Ambarlı, Hüseyin |
title |
Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
title_short |
Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
title_full |
Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
title_fullStr |
Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest Asia |
title_sort |
population genetics of the main population of brown bears in southwest asia |
publisher |
PeerJ |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5660 https://peerj.com/articles/5660.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/5660.xml https://peerj.com/articles/5660.html |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_source |
PeerJ volume 6, page e5660 ISSN 2167-8359 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5660 |
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PeerJ |
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6 |
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e5660 |
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1810484533243412480 |