Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears
Understanding the factors that influence the rate at which natural populations lose genetic diversity is a central aspect of conservation genetics because of the importance of genetic diversity in maintaining evolutionary potential and individual fitness. Concerns about loss of genetic diversity are...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.1998.96457.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x/fullpdf |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x 2024-10-13T14:03:34+00:00 Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears Paetkau, David Waits, Lisette P. Clarkson, Peter L. Craighead, Lance Vyse, Ernie Ward, Ryk Strobeck, Curtis 1998 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.1998.96457.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x/fullpdf en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Conservation Biology volume 12, issue 2, page 418-429 ISSN 0888-8892 1523-1739 journal-article 1998 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x 2024-09-17T04:49:42Z Understanding the factors that influence the rate at which natural populations lose genetic diversity is a central aspect of conservation genetics because of the importance of genetic diversity in maintaining evolutionary potential and individual fitness. Concerns about loss of genetic diversity are particularly relevant to large carnivores, such as brown bears (Ursus arctos), that are distributed at low densities and are highly susceptible to human‐caused population fragmentation. We used eight highly variable nuclear microsatellite markers to study current levels of genetic variation across the North American range of brown bears. The highest levels of within‐population genetic diversity (H e = 0.76) were found in northern populations in the core of the North American distribution. Diversity was significantly lower in populations at the southern fringe of the distribution, in the Northwest Territories, and in southwest Alaska. Diversity was lower still in the Yellowstone Ecosystem population (H e = 0.55), an isolated remnant of the larger distribution that recently extended south from the Canadian border into Mexico. The insular population on the Kodiak Archipelago had very low genetic diversity (H e = 0.26). The Yellowstone and Kodiak data suggest that the effective population size for brown bears is much smaller than previously suspected. These results indicate that the levels of diversity in most undisturbed populations can be maintained only through connections to populations on the scale of the current North American distribution. At the same time, the Kodiak data demonstrate that populations well under the size recommended for long‐term conservation can persist and thrive for thousands of years, although the probability of such persistence remains unknown. Variación en la Diversidad Genética a lo largo del Rango de Distribución del Oso Café de Norteamérica Entender los factores que influeyen en la tasa a la cual las poblaciones naturales pierden diversidad genética es un aspecto central de la genética de ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Archipelago Kodiak Northwest Territories Ursus arctos Alaska Wiley Online Library Northwest Territories Conservation Biology 12 2 418 429 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Understanding the factors that influence the rate at which natural populations lose genetic diversity is a central aspect of conservation genetics because of the importance of genetic diversity in maintaining evolutionary potential and individual fitness. Concerns about loss of genetic diversity are particularly relevant to large carnivores, such as brown bears (Ursus arctos), that are distributed at low densities and are highly susceptible to human‐caused population fragmentation. We used eight highly variable nuclear microsatellite markers to study current levels of genetic variation across the North American range of brown bears. The highest levels of within‐population genetic diversity (H e = 0.76) were found in northern populations in the core of the North American distribution. Diversity was significantly lower in populations at the southern fringe of the distribution, in the Northwest Territories, and in southwest Alaska. Diversity was lower still in the Yellowstone Ecosystem population (H e = 0.55), an isolated remnant of the larger distribution that recently extended south from the Canadian border into Mexico. The insular population on the Kodiak Archipelago had very low genetic diversity (H e = 0.26). The Yellowstone and Kodiak data suggest that the effective population size for brown bears is much smaller than previously suspected. These results indicate that the levels of diversity in most undisturbed populations can be maintained only through connections to populations on the scale of the current North American distribution. At the same time, the Kodiak data demonstrate that populations well under the size recommended for long‐term conservation can persist and thrive for thousands of years, although the probability of such persistence remains unknown. Variación en la Diversidad Genética a lo largo del Rango de Distribución del Oso Café de Norteamérica Entender los factores que influeyen en la tasa a la cual las poblaciones naturales pierden diversidad genética es un aspecto central de la genética de ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paetkau, David Waits, Lisette P. Clarkson, Peter L. Craighead, Lance Vyse, Ernie Ward, Ryk Strobeck, Curtis |
spellingShingle |
Paetkau, David Waits, Lisette P. Clarkson, Peter L. Craighead, Lance Vyse, Ernie Ward, Ryk Strobeck, Curtis Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
author_facet |
Paetkau, David Waits, Lisette P. Clarkson, Peter L. Craighead, Lance Vyse, Ernie Ward, Ryk Strobeck, Curtis |
author_sort |
Paetkau, David |
title |
Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
title_short |
Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
title_full |
Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
title_fullStr |
Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variation in Genetic Diversity across the Range of North American Brown Bears |
title_sort |
variation in genetic diversity across the range of north american brown bears |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.1998.96457.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x/fullpdf |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Archipelago Kodiak Northwest Territories Ursus arctos Alaska |
genre_facet |
Archipelago Kodiak Northwest Territories Ursus arctos Alaska |
op_source |
Conservation Biology volume 12, issue 2, page 418-429 ISSN 0888-8892 1523-1739 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96457.x |
container_title |
Conservation Biology |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
418 |
op_container_end_page |
429 |
_version_ |
1812808648981741568 |