Selection of both habitat and genes in specialized and endangered caribou |
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Authors: | Maria Cavedon Bridgett vonHoldt Mark Hebblewhite Troy Hegel Elizabeth Heppenheimer Dave Hervieux Stefano Mariani Helen Schwantje Robin Steenweg Megan Watters Marco Musiani |
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Affiliation: | 1. Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada;2. Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA;3. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA;4. Yukon Department of Environment, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada;5. Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Branch, Alberta Environment and Parks, Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada;6. School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK;7. Wildlife and Habitat Branch, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Government of British Columbia, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada;8. Pacific Region, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Delta, British Columbia, Canada;9. Land and Resource Specialist, Fort St John, British Columbia, Canada;10. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Veterinary Medicine (Joint Appointment), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
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Abstract: | Genetic mechanisms determining habitat selection and specialization of individuals within species have been hypothesized, but not tested at the appropriate individual level in nature. In this work, we analyzed habitat selection for 139 GPS-collared caribou belonging to 3 declining ecotypes sampled throughout Northwestern Canada. We used Resource Selection Functions comparing resources at used and available locations. We found that the 3 caribou ecotypes differed in their use of habitat suggesting specialization. On expected grounds, we also found differences in habitat selection between summer and winter, but also, originally, among the individuals within an ecotype. We next obtained Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) for the same caribou individuals, we detected those associated to habitat selection, and then identified genes linked to these SNPs. These genes had functions related in other organisms to habitat and dietary specializations, and climatic adaptations. We therefore suggest that individual variation in habitat selection was based on genotypic variation in the SNPs of individual caribou, indicating that genetic forces underlie habitat and diet selection in the species. We also suggest that the associations between habitat and genes that we detected may lead to lack of resilience in the species, thus contributing to caribou endangerment. Our work emphasizes that similar mechanisms may exist for other specialized, endangered species. |
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Keywords: | caribou ecological specialization endangered species genomics global positioning systems habitat loss habitat selection Resource Selection Functions caribú especialización ecológica especie en peligro funciones de selección de recursos genómica pérdida de hábitat selección de hábitat sistemas de posicionamiento global 濒危物种, 生态特化, 栖息地选择, 栖息地丧失, 基因组学, 驯鹿, 全球定位系统, 资源选择函数 |
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