10.5061/DRYAD.V2J1R
Peacock, Elizabeth
United States Geological Survey
Sonsthagen, Sarah A.
United States Geological Survey
Obbard, Martyn E.
Ministry of Natural Resources
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Boltunov, Andrei
All-Russian Research Institute for Fire Protection
Regehr, Eric V.
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, Anchorage,
Alaska, United States of America
Ovsyanikov, Nikita
Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve, Moscow, Russian Federation
Aars, Jon
Norwegian Polar Institute
Atkinson, Stephen N.
Government of Nunavut
Sage, George K.
United States Geological Survey
Hope, Andrew G.
United States Geological Survey
Zeyl, Eve
University of Oslo
Bachmann, Lutz
University of Oslo
Ehrich, Dorothee
University of Oslo
Scribner, Kim T.
Michigan State University
Amstrup, Steven C.
Polar Bears International, Bozeman, Montana, United States of America
Belikov, Stanislav
All-Russian Research Institute for Fire Protection
Born, Erik W.
Grønlands Naturinstitut
Derocher, Andrew E.
University of Alberta
Stirling, Ian
Environment Canada
Taylor, Mitchell K.
Lakehead University
Wiig, Øystein
University of Oslo
Paetkau, David
Wildlife Genetics International, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
Talbot, Sandra L.
United States Geological Survey
Data from: Implications of the circumpolar genetic structure of polar
bears for their conservation in a rapidly warming Arctic
Dryad
dataset
2015
Ursus maritimus
Ursus arctos
polar bear
Holocene
2015-10-06T00:00:00Z
2015-10-06T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112021
595858 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
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
actions to continuing decline in sea-ice habitat.
Circumpolar polar bear microsatellite datasetPeacock_et_al_2014.xlsx
Foxe Basin
Laptev Sea
Baffin Bay
Lancaster Sound
Western Hudson Bay
Southern Beaufort Sea
Gulf of Boothia
Northern Beaufort Sea
Viscount Melville
Norwegian Bay
East Greenland
Barents Sea
Davis Strait
Chukchi Sea
Kane Basin
Kara Sea
M'Clintock Channel
Southern Hudson Bay