Abstract
Genetic studies of the Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos) have so far focused on populations from Europe and North America, although the largest distribution area of brown bears is in Asia. In this study, we reveal population genetic parameters for the brown bear population inhabiting the Grand Kaçkar Mountains (GKM) in the north east of Turkey, western Lesser Caucasus. Using both hair (N = 147) and tissue samples (N = 7) collected between 2008 and 2014, we found substantial levels of genetic variation (10 microsatellite loci). Bear samples (hair) taken from rubbing trees worked better for genotyping than those from power poles, regardless of the year collected. Genotyping also revealed that bears moved between habitat patches, despite ongoing massive habitat alterations and the creation of large water reservoirs. This population has the potential to serve as a genetic reserve for future reintroductions in the Middle East. Due to the importance of the GKM population for on-going and future conservation actions, the impacts of habitat alterations in the region ought to be minimized; e.g., by establishing green bridges or corridors over reservoirs and major roads to maintain habitat connectivity and gene flow among populations in the Lesser Caucasus.
Highlights
The brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) is a widely distributed Holarctic old world species
We focused on the bear population inhabiting the Grand Kackar Mountains (GKM) in the north east of Turkey, which comprises the main source population in Eastern Turkey and the Lesser Caucasus (Ambarlı, 2016)
Any conservation action plan for brown bears in the Lesser Caucasus needs to consider the influences of big dam and hydro-electrical power plants (HEPP) constructions on this genetically highly diverse bear population (high mtDNA diversity (Çilingir et al, 2016) and nuclear diversity)
Summary
The brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) is a widely distributed Holarctic old world species. The main distribution of the species is in Asia, genetic studies have largely focused on Europe and North America (Swenson, Taberlet & Bellemain, 2011). The main brown bear population in southwest Asia is in northeastern Anatolia (hereafter using the term Anatolia for the Asiatic part of Turkey), consisting of more than 2,000 individuals (Ambarlı, Ertürk & Soyumert, 2016). This population is characterized by a higher abundance (Ambarlı, 2016) and a higher mtDNA diversity (Çilingir et al, 2016) than the neighboring, and mostly isolated, populations in the Lesser Caucasus parts of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan (Lortkipanidze, 2010).
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