Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type
Abstract Glacier bears are a rare grey color morph of American black bear (Ursus americanus) found only in northern Southeast Alaska and a small portion of western Canada. We examine contemporary genetic population structure of black bears within the geographic extent of glacier bears and explore ho...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/article/9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c 2023-05-15T16:20:28+02:00 Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type Tania Lewis Gretchen Roffler Anthony Crupi Ramona Maraj Neil Barten 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/article/9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/article/9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10, Iss 14, Pp 7654-7668 (2020) biogeography black bears color morph glacier bear mammals microsatellites Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 2022-12-31T15:36:57Z Abstract Glacier bears are a rare grey color morph of American black bear (Ursus americanus) found only in northern Southeast Alaska and a small portion of western Canada. We examine contemporary genetic population structure of black bears within the geographic extent of glacier bears and explore how this structure relates to pelage color and landscape features of a recently glaciated and highly fragmented landscape. We used existing radiocollar data to quantify black bear home‐range size within the geographic range of glacier bears. The mean home‐range size of female black bears in the study area was 13 km2 (n = 11), whereas the home range of a single male was 86.9 km2. We genotyped 284 bears using 21 microsatellites extracted from noninvasively collected hair as well as tissue samples from harvested bears. We found ten populations of black bears in the study area, including several new populations not previously identified, divided largely by geographic features such as glaciers and marine fjords. Glacier bears were assigned to four populations found on the north and east side of Lynn Canal and the north and west side of Glacier Bay with a curious absence in the nonglaciated peninsula between. Lack of genetic relatedness and geographic continuity between black bear populations containing glacier bears suggest a possible unsampled population or an association with ice fields. Further investigation is needed to determine the genetic basis and the adaptive and evolutionary significance of the glacier bear color morph to help focus black bear conservation management to maximize and preserve genetic diversity. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glacier* glaciers Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Glacier Bay Ecology and Evolution 10 14 7654 7668 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
biogeography black bears color morph glacier bear mammals microsatellites Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
biogeography black bears color morph glacier bear mammals microsatellites Ecology QH540-549.5 Tania Lewis Gretchen Roffler Anthony Crupi Ramona Maraj Neil Barten Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
topic_facet |
biogeography black bears color morph glacier bear mammals microsatellites Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Glacier bears are a rare grey color morph of American black bear (Ursus americanus) found only in northern Southeast Alaska and a small portion of western Canada. We examine contemporary genetic population structure of black bears within the geographic extent of glacier bears and explore how this structure relates to pelage color and landscape features of a recently glaciated and highly fragmented landscape. We used existing radiocollar data to quantify black bear home‐range size within the geographic range of glacier bears. The mean home‐range size of female black bears in the study area was 13 km2 (n = 11), whereas the home range of a single male was 86.9 km2. We genotyped 284 bears using 21 microsatellites extracted from noninvasively collected hair as well as tissue samples from harvested bears. We found ten populations of black bears in the study area, including several new populations not previously identified, divided largely by geographic features such as glaciers and marine fjords. Glacier bears were assigned to four populations found on the north and east side of Lynn Canal and the north and west side of Glacier Bay with a curious absence in the nonglaciated peninsula between. Lack of genetic relatedness and geographic continuity between black bear populations containing glacier bears suggest a possible unsampled population or an association with ice fields. Further investigation is needed to determine the genetic basis and the adaptive and evolutionary significance of the glacier bear color morph to help focus black bear conservation management to maximize and preserve genetic diversity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tania Lewis Gretchen Roffler Anthony Crupi Ramona Maraj Neil Barten |
author_facet |
Tania Lewis Gretchen Roffler Anthony Crupi Ramona Maraj Neil Barten |
author_sort |
Tania Lewis |
title |
Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
title_short |
Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
title_full |
Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
title_fullStr |
Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: Genetic population structure of black bears (Ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
title_sort |
unraveling the mystery of the glacier bear: genetic population structure of black bears (ursus americanus) within the range of a rare pelage type |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/article/9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c |
geographic |
Canada Glacier Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada Glacier Bay |
genre |
glacier glacier* glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glacier* glaciers Alaska |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10, Iss 14, Pp 7654-7668 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7758 2045-7758 doi:10.1002/ece3.6490 https://doaj.org/article/9be2d8d0886340f79954a5dfef32095c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6490 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
14 |
container_start_page |
7654 |
op_container_end_page |
7668 |
_version_ |
1766008381841080320 |