Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic
We provide an expansive analysis of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) circumpolar genetic variation during the last two decades of decline in their sea-ice habitat. We sought to evaluate whether their genetic diversity and structure have changed over this period of habitat decline, how their current gene...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4285400 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562525 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4285400 2023-05-15T15:14:57+02:00 Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic Peacock, Elizabeth Sonsthagen, Sarah A. Obbard, Martyn E. Boltunov, Andrei Regehr, Eric V. Ovsyanikov, Nikita Aars, Jon Atkinson, Stephen N. Sage, George K. Hope, Andrew G. Zeyl, Eve Bachmann, Lutz Ehrich, Dorothee Scribner, Kim T. Amstrup, Steven C. Belikov, Stanislav Born, Erik W. Derocher, Andrew E. Stirling, Ian Taylor, Mitchell K. Wiig, Øystein Paetkau, David Talbot, Sandra L. 2015-01-06 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4285400 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562525 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562525 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. PDM CC0 Research Article Text 2015 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 2015-01-18T01:17:35Z We provide an expansive analysis of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) circumpolar genetic variation during the last two decades of decline in their sea-ice habitat. We sought to evaluate whether their genetic diversity and structure have changed over this period of habitat decline, how their current genetic patterns compare with past patterns, and how genetic demography changed with ancient fluctuations in climate. Characterizing their circumpolar genetic structure using microsatellite data, we defined four clusters that largely correspond to current ecological and oceanographic factors: Eastern Polar Basin, Western Polar Basin, Canadian Archipelago and Southern Canada. We document evidence for recent (ca. last 1–3 generations) directional gene flow from Southern Canada and the Eastern Polar Basin towards the Canadian Archipelago, an area hypothesized to be a future refugium for polar bears as climate-induced habitat decline continues. Our data provide empirical evidence in support of this hypothesis. The direction of current gene flow differs from earlier patterns of gene flow in the Holocene. From analyses of mitochondrial DNA, the Canadian Archipelago cluster and the Barents Sea subpopulation within the Eastern Polar Basin cluster did not show signals of population expansion, suggesting these areas may have served also as past interglacial refugia. Mismatch analyses of mitochondrial DNA data from polar and the paraphyletic brown bear (U. arctos) uncovered offset signals in timing of population expansion between the two species, that are attributed to differential demographic responses to past climate cycling. Mitogenomic structure of polar bears was shallow and developed recently, in contrast to the multiple clades of brown bears. We found no genetic signatures of recent hybridization between the species in our large, circumpolar sample, suggesting that recently observed hybrids represent localized events. Documenting changes in subpopulation connectivity will allow polar nations to proactively adjust conservation ... Text Arctic Barents Sea brown bear Canadian Archipelago Sea ice Ursus maritimus PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Barents Sea Canada PLoS ONE 10 1 e112021 |
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Open Polar |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Research Article |
spellingShingle |
Research Article Peacock, Elizabeth Sonsthagen, Sarah A. Obbard, Martyn E. Boltunov, Andrei Regehr, Eric V. Ovsyanikov, Nikita Aars, Jon Atkinson, Stephen N. Sage, George K. Hope, Andrew G. Zeyl, Eve Bachmann, Lutz Ehrich, Dorothee Scribner, Kim T. Amstrup, Steven C. Belikov, Stanislav Born, Erik W. Derocher, Andrew E. Stirling, Ian Taylor, Mitchell K. Wiig, Øystein Paetkau, David Talbot, Sandra L. Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
We provide an expansive analysis of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) circumpolar genetic variation during the last two decades of decline in their sea-ice habitat. We sought to evaluate whether their genetic diversity and structure have changed over this period of habitat decline, how their current genetic patterns compare with past patterns, and how genetic demography changed with ancient fluctuations in climate. Characterizing their circumpolar genetic structure using microsatellite data, we defined four clusters that largely correspond to current ecological and oceanographic factors: Eastern Polar Basin, Western Polar Basin, Canadian Archipelago and Southern Canada. We document evidence for recent (ca. last 1–3 generations) directional gene flow from Southern Canada and the Eastern Polar Basin towards the Canadian Archipelago, an area hypothesized to be a future refugium for polar bears as climate-induced habitat decline continues. Our data provide empirical evidence in support of this hypothesis. The direction of current gene flow differs from earlier patterns of gene flow in the Holocene. From analyses of mitochondrial DNA, the Canadian Archipelago cluster and the Barents Sea subpopulation within the Eastern Polar Basin cluster did not show signals of population expansion, suggesting these areas may have served also as past interglacial refugia. Mismatch analyses of mitochondrial DNA data from polar and the paraphyletic brown bear (U. arctos) uncovered offset signals in timing of population expansion between the two species, that are attributed to differential demographic responses to past climate cycling. Mitogenomic structure of polar bears was shallow and developed recently, in contrast to the multiple clades of brown bears. We found no genetic signatures of recent hybridization between the species in our large, circumpolar sample, suggesting that recently observed hybrids represent localized events. Documenting changes in subpopulation connectivity will allow polar nations to proactively adjust conservation ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Peacock, Elizabeth Sonsthagen, Sarah A. Obbard, Martyn E. Boltunov, Andrei Regehr, Eric V. Ovsyanikov, Nikita Aars, Jon Atkinson, Stephen N. Sage, George K. Hope, Andrew G. Zeyl, Eve Bachmann, Lutz Ehrich, Dorothee Scribner, Kim T. Amstrup, Steven C. Belikov, Stanislav Born, Erik W. Derocher, Andrew E. Stirling, Ian Taylor, Mitchell K. Wiig, Øystein Paetkau, David Talbot, Sandra L. |
author_facet |
Peacock, Elizabeth Sonsthagen, Sarah A. Obbard, Martyn E. Boltunov, Andrei Regehr, Eric V. Ovsyanikov, Nikita Aars, Jon Atkinson, Stephen N. Sage, George K. Hope, Andrew G. Zeyl, Eve Bachmann, Lutz Ehrich, Dorothee Scribner, Kim T. Amstrup, Steven C. Belikov, Stanislav Born, Erik W. Derocher, Andrew E. Stirling, Ian Taylor, Mitchell K. Wiig, Øystein Paetkau, David Talbot, Sandra L. |
author_sort |
Peacock, Elizabeth |
title |
Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
title_short |
Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
title_full |
Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
title_fullStr |
Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic |
title_sort |
implications of the circumpolar genetic structure of polar bears for their conservation in a rapidly warming arctic |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4285400 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562525 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Canada |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Canada |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea brown bear Canadian Archipelago Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea brown bear Canadian Archipelago Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562525 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 |
op_rights |
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. |
op_rightsnorm |
PDM CC0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e112021 |
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1766345346393309184 |