GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY
Global polar bear (Ursus maritimus) population numbers are expected to decline steadily over the next 50 years. A noninvasive genetic survey of polar bear numbers may be a useful addition to traditional aerial capture mark recapture (CMR) surveys undertaken throughout the Canadian polar bear populat...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2010
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6255 |
id |
ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OKQ.1974/6255 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcanadathes:oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OKQ.1974/6255 2023-05-15T18:42:26+02:00 GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY Harris, Christopher Matthew Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Theses (Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)) 2010-12-22 23:09:08.44 http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6255 en eng Canadian theses http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6255 This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. polar bears genetics noninvasive survey genetic survey Thesis 2010 ftcanadathes 2013-12-22T00:48:00Z Global polar bear (Ursus maritimus) population numbers are expected to decline steadily over the next 50 years. A noninvasive genetic survey of polar bear numbers may be a useful addition to traditional aerial capture mark recapture (CMR) surveys undertaken throughout the Canadian polar bear population. We attempted a pilot study of noninvasive genetic survey techniques in M’Clintock Channel between May-June 2006-2009. Throughout the survey, we compared our values to the most recent (CMR) survey, conducted by Taylor et al. (2006) between March-June 1998-2000 where 133 cubs, sub-adults and adults were tagged. A total population size of 300 bears was estimated from this aerial CMR survey (Taylor et al. 2006). We found noninvasive sampling stations are sufficient for the capture of a large amount of data on individual bears in an area. Across 4 years, we collected a total of 300 hair samples, and found between 59 and 82 individual bears entered our sampling stations, depending on the stringency of our identification parameters. We estimated genotyping error from duplicated samples, and found this was low (range: 0%-6%), but large enough to not be ignored. There appeared to be a discrepancy between the capture ratio of male adult bears; the CMR survey (1998-2000) captured 25% male bears, while we estimated approximately 64% of our captured bears were male. We felt the most likely explanation of this result is that our traps have a sex bias. However, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis. On the whole, our methods are very important for the management of polar bears, but more research must be done before it can be fully implemented. Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-12-23 15:35:50.16 Thesis Ursus maritimus Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Theses Canada/Thèses Canada (Library and Archives Canada) |
op_collection_id |
ftcanadathes |
language |
English |
topic |
polar bears genetics noninvasive survey genetic survey |
spellingShingle |
polar bears genetics noninvasive survey genetic survey Harris, Christopher Matthew GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
topic_facet |
polar bears genetics noninvasive survey genetic survey |
description |
Global polar bear (Ursus maritimus) population numbers are expected to decline steadily over the next 50 years. A noninvasive genetic survey of polar bear numbers may be a useful addition to traditional aerial capture mark recapture (CMR) surveys undertaken throughout the Canadian polar bear population. We attempted a pilot study of noninvasive genetic survey techniques in M’Clintock Channel between May-June 2006-2009. Throughout the survey, we compared our values to the most recent (CMR) survey, conducted by Taylor et al. (2006) between March-June 1998-2000 where 133 cubs, sub-adults and adults were tagged. A total population size of 300 bears was estimated from this aerial CMR survey (Taylor et al. 2006). We found noninvasive sampling stations are sufficient for the capture of a large amount of data on individual bears in an area. Across 4 years, we collected a total of 300 hair samples, and found between 59 and 82 individual bears entered our sampling stations, depending on the stringency of our identification parameters. We estimated genotyping error from duplicated samples, and found this was low (range: 0%-6%), but large enough to not be ignored. There appeared to be a discrepancy between the capture ratio of male adult bears; the CMR survey (1998-2000) captured 25% male bears, while we estimated approximately 64% of our captured bears were male. We felt the most likely explanation of this result is that our traps have a sex bias. However, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis. On the whole, our methods are very important for the management of polar bears, but more research must be done before it can be fully implemented. Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-12-23 15:35:50.16 |
author2 |
Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Theses (Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)) |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Harris, Christopher Matthew |
author_facet |
Harris, Christopher Matthew |
author_sort |
Harris, Christopher Matthew |
title |
GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
title_short |
GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
title_full |
GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
title_fullStr |
GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
title_full_unstemmed |
GENETIC NONINVASIVE CAPTURE-RECAPTURE TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE POLAR BEARS: A PILOT STUDY |
title_sort |
genetic noninvasive capture-recapture techniques to manage polar bears: a pilot study |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6255 |
genre |
Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Ursus maritimus |
op_relation |
Canadian theses http://hdl.handle.net/1974/6255 |
op_rights |
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner. |
_version_ |
1766232092344057856 |