1,721,157 research outputs found
The challenge of woodland caribou conservation in the Canadian Rockies: are more parks the answer?
No full textEcology, genetics, and conservation units despite gene flow in highly-vagile terrestrial mammals (caribou and wolves)
No full textConservation Units (CUs) are groups of organisms distinguishable ecologically and genetically, and
defining CUs is instrumental in conserving biodiversity within species. Recently, the use of both genomics
and ecological information has been advocated for delineating CUs that better reflect local adaptations –
i.e. the traits that in theory allow for population viability in the long-term. However, CUs are difficult to
detect in highly-vagile terrestrial mammals characterized by long-range dispersal and, potentially, high
levels of gene flow (e.g. caribou and wolves). My lab’s work helped defining caribou CUs based on
concordant distributions of traits of adaptive significance including behavioural (migratory, partially
migratory or sedentary CUs), ecological (foraging specialization of CUs), and genetic variation at varied
temporal scales. Preliminary data also highlight important morphological differences between migratory
and sedentary populations. Wolf CUs could also be characterized based upon traits including behavioural
(migratory vs. not), morphological (coat coloration), ecological (prey specialization), and genetic and
genomic variation. Our findings also confirmed long-range dispersal (for wolves) and high levels of gene
flow among populations (for both wolves and caribou). Thus, CUs are recognizable even in highly-vagile
terrestrial mammals with long-range dispersal and high gene flow, and integration of genetic and
ecological data allows for understanding the patterns of differentiation that could be maintained in nature
Linear Features, Forestry and Wolf Predation of Caribou and Other Prey in West-Central Alberta
No full textEcology, genetics and conservation units despite gene flow in highly-vagile terrestrial mammals (caribou and wolves)
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