Publications
Filter Total Items: 51
Microsatellite variation and rare alleles in a bottlenecked Hawaiian Islands endemic: implications for reintroductions
Conservation of genetic biodiversity in endangered wildlife populations is an important challenge to address since the loss of alleles and genetic drift may influence future adaptability. Reintroduction aims to re-establish species to restored or protected ecosystems; however, moving a subset of individuals may result in loss of gene variants during the management-induced bottleneck (i.e. transloc
Authors
Michelle H. Reynolds, John M. Pearce, Philip Lavretsky, Pedro P. Seixas, Karen Courtot
Arctic biodiversity: Increasing richness accompanies shrinking refugia for a cold-associated tundra fauna
As ancestral biodiversity responded dynamically to late-Quaternary climate changes, so are extant organisms responding to the warming trajectory of the Anthropocene. Ecological predictive modeling, statistical hypothesis tests, and genetic signatures of demographic change can provide a powerful integrated toolset for investigating these biodiversity responses to climate change, and relative resili
Authors
Andrew G. Hope, Eric Waltari, Jason L. Malaney, David C. Payer, J.A. Cook, Sandra L. Talbot
Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for the Hawaiian coot, Fulica alai, and Hawaiian gallinule, Gallinula galeata sandvicensis, through next-generation sequencing
We used next generation shotgun sequencing to develop novel microsatellite markers for two endangered waterbirds; the Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai) and Hawaiian gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis). The 20 loci polymorphic in the Hawaiian coot displayed moderate allelic diversity (average 3.8 alleles/locus) and heterozygosity (average 59.5 %). The 12 loci variable for the Hawaiian gallinule ex
Authors
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Robert E. Wilson, Jared G. Underwood
Lack of sex-biased dispersal promotes fine-scale genetic structure in alpine ungulates
Identifying patterns of fine-scale genetic structure in natural populations can advance understanding of critical ecological processes such as dispersal and gene flow across heterogeneous landscapes. Alpine ungulates generally exhibit high levels of genetic structure due to female philopatry and patchy configuration of mountain habitats. We assessed the spatial scale of genetic structure and the a
Authors
Gretchen H. Roffler, Sandra L. Talbot, Gordon Luikart, George K. Sage, Kristy L. Pilgrim, Layne G. Adams, Michael K. Schwartz
Future distribution of tundra refugia in northern Alaska
Climate change in the Arctic is a growing concern for natural resource conservation and management as a result of accelerated warming and associated shifts in the distribution and abundance of northern species. We introduce a predictive framework for assessing the future extent of Arctic tundra and boreal biomes in northern Alaska. We use geo-referenced museum specimens to predict the velocity of
Authors
Andrew G. Hope, Eric Waltari, David C. Payer, Joseph A. Cook, Sandra L. Talbot
Spatial genetic structure and asymmetrical gene flow within the Pacific walrus
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) occupying shelf waters of Pacific Arctic seas migrate during spring and summer from 3 breeding areas in the Bering Sea to form sexually segregated nonbreeding aggregations. We assessed genetic relationships among 2 putative breeding populations and 6 nonbreeding aggregations. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence data suggest t
Authors
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Chadwick V. Jay, Anthony S. Fischbach, George K. Sage, Sandra L. Talbot
Polar and brown bear genomes reveal ancient admixture and demographic footprints of past climate change
Polar bears (PBs) are superbly adapted to the extreme Arctic environment and have become emblematic of the threat to biodiversity from global climate change. Their divergence from the lower-latitude brown bear provides a textbook example of rapid evolution of distinct phenotypes. However, limited mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence conflicts in the timing of PB origin as well as placement of th
Authors
Webb Miller, Stephan C. Schuster, Andreanna J. Welch, Aakrosh Ratan, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Fangqing Zhao, Hie Lim Kim, Richard C. Burhans, Daniela I. Drautz, Nicola E. Wittekindt, Lynn P. Tomsho, Enrique Ibarra-Laclette, Luis Herrera-Estrella, Elizabeth L. Peacock, Sean Farley, George K. Sage, Karyn D. Rode, Martyn E. Obbard, Rafael Montiel, Lutz Bachmann, Ólafur Ingólfsson, Jon Aars, Thomas Mailund, Øystein Wiig, Sandra L. Talbot, Charlotte Lindqvist
Hybridization among Arctic white-headed gulls (Larus spp.) obscures the genetic legacy of the Pleistocene
We studied the influence of glacial oscillations on the genetic structure of seven species of white-headed gull that breed at high latitudes (Larus argentatus, L. canus, L. glaucescens, L. glaucoides, L. hyperboreus, L. schistisagus, and L. thayeri). We evaluated localities hypothesized as ice-free areas or glacial refugia in other Arctic vertebrates using molecular data from 11 microsatellite loc
Authors
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, R. Terry Chesser, Douglas A. Bell, Carla J. Dove
Range overlap and individual movements during breeding season influence genetic relationships of caribou herds in south-central Alaska
North American caribou (Rangifer tarandus) herds commonly exhibit little nuclear genetic differentiation among adjacent herds, although available evidence supports strong demographic separation, even for herds with seasonal range overlap. During 1997–2003, we studied the Mentasta and Nelchina caribou herds in south-central Alaska using radiotelemetry to determine individual movements and range ove
Authors
Gretchen H. Roffler, Layne G. Adams, Sandra L. Talbot, George K. Sage, Bruce W. Dale
Multilocus phylogeography and population structure of common eiders breeding in North America and Scandinavia
Aim Glacial refugia during the Pleistocene had major impacts on the levels and spatial apportionment of genetic diversity of species in northern latitude ecosystems. We characterized patterns of population subdivision, and tested hypotheses associated with locations of potential Pleistocene refugia and the relative contribution of these refugia to the post-glacial colonization of North America an
Authors
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra L. Talbot, Kim T. Scribner, Kevin G. McCracken
Migratory patterns and population structure among breeding and wintering red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) and common mergansers (M. merganser)
Philopatry has long been assumed to structure populations of waterfowl and other species of birds genetically, especially via maternally transmitted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), yet other migratory behaviors and nesting ecology (use of ground vs. cavity sites) may also contribute to population genetic structure. We investigated the effects of migration and nesting ecology on the population genetic s
Authors
John M. Pearce, K.G. McCracken, Thomas K. Christensen, Y.N. Zhuravlev
Genetic structure of eelgrass Zostera marina meadows in an embayment with restricted water flow
Genetic structure of the seagrass Zostera marina in a coastal lagoon with restricted water flow, and with heterogeneous water residence times and oceanographic characteristics, was assessed using 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci. Analyses of genetic differentiation (θ) and Bayesian clustering suggested that the Z. marina population in San Quintin Bay (SQB) is genetically substructured, with at le
Authors
Raquel Muñiz-Salazar, Sandra L. Talbot, George K. Sage, David H. Ward, Alejandro Cabello-Pasini