Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeography of the North American Brown Bear and Implications for Conservation

• Published in: Conservation Biology
• Main Authors: Waits, Lisette P., Talbot, Sandra L., Ward, R. H., Shields, G. F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1998
• Subjects: Kodiak; Northwest Territories; Ursus arctos; Alaska; Yukon
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96351.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.1998.96351.x; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96351.x/fullpdf

The historical distribution of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in North America included Alaska, western Canada, the western and midwestern states, plus northern Mexico. Currently, the brown bear is limited to Alaska, the Canadian provinces of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and Alberta, and six threatened subpopulations in the lower 48 states. To examine the evolutionary history of U. arctos in North America and to assess the genetic divergence between individuals from different geographic regions, we obtained 294 nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the control region for 317 free‐ranging brown bears. Twenty‐eight unique sequences, or mitochondrial DNA haplotypes were detected. The average sequence divergence between haplotypes was high (4.3%), and some haplotypes differed by as many as 23 nucleotides. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum parsimony revealed four major mitochondrial DNA phylogeographic groups, or clades. The significant phylogeographic structure detected in brown bears strongly contrasts with results obtained for other large carnivores and suggests limited female‐mediated gene flow. The mitochondrial DNA phylogeographic clades do not correlate with taxonomic classifications for U. arctos, and we hypothesize that the clades were formed prior to migration of this species into North America. We suggest evolutionarily significant units for conservation in three geographic regions: (1) the Alaskan islands of Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof; (2) mainland Alaska, Kodiak Island, and northern Canada; and (3) southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Filogenia del ADN Mitocondrial del Oso Café de Norte América y sus Implicaciones en la Conservación La distribución histórica del oso café (Ursus arctos) en Norte Améica includía Alaska, oeste de Canada, oeste y medio oeste de los Estados Unidos y Norte de México. Actualmete, el oso café esta limitado a Alaska, las provincias Canadienses de Yukon, Northwest territories, ...