Expansion Of Human Populations Research Articles

An assessment of seasonal bait uptake by individual grey squirrels to develop a delivery system for oral contraceptives.

Globally, human-wildlife conflicts continue to increase, owing to human population growth and expansion. Many of these conflicts concern the impacts of invasive non-native species. In the UK, the invasive, non-native grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis negatively affects tree health and has caused the decline of the native red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris. Oral contraceptives are being developed to manage the impacts of the grey squirrel. To be effective, contraceptives will need to be deployed at a landscape scale, and will require a delivery system that is practical and economically viable. Understanding grey squirrel feeding behaviour is important so that delivery methods can be designed so that a sufficient number oftarget individuals receive an effective contraceptive dose at a time of year that will ensure their infertility throughout peak times of breeding. The main aims of this study were to assess how sex, season, squirrel density and bait point density influenced; (1) the probability of a squirrel visiting a feeder and (2) the amount of bait consumed from feeders. Field trials were conducted on six woodland populations of squirrels in three seasons, with four days of bait deployment via purpose-designed squirrel-specific bait hoppers with integrated PIT-tag readers. It was possible to deliver multiple doses on most days to most male and female grey squirrels, with bait deployment more likely to be effective in spring, immediately before the second annual peak in squirrel breeding, followed by winter, immediately before the first peak in breeding. The results from this study could be used to design methods for delivering oral contraceptive baits to grey squirrels in the future and the methods used could be applied to other small mammal species and other bait delivery systems. © 2024 Crown copyright and The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the King's Printer for Scotland.

Mitochondrial DNA Genomes Reveal Relaxed Purifying Selection During Human Population Expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum.

Modern humans have experienced explosive population growth in the past thousand years. We hypothesized that recent human populations have inhabited environments with relaxation of selective constraints, possibly due to the more abundant food supply after the Last Glacial Maximum. The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous mutations (N/S ratio) is a useful and common statistic for measuring selective constraints. In this study, we reconstructed a high-resolution phylogenetic tree using a total of 26,419 East Eurasian mitochondrial DNA genomes, which were further classified into expansion and nonexpansion groups on the basis of the frequencies of their founder lineages. We observed a much higher N/S ratio in the expansion group, especially for nonsynonymous mutations with moderately deleterious effects, indicating a weaker effect of purifying selection in the expanded clades. However, this observation on N/S ratio was unlikely in computer simulations where all individuals were under the same selective constraints. Thus, we argue that the expanded populations were subjected to weaker selective constraints than the nonexpanded populations were. The mildly deleterious mutations were retained during population expansion, which could have a profound impact on present-day disease patterns.

What is driving the global decline of human fertility? Need for a multidisciplinary approach to the underlying mechanisms.

An intense period of human population expansion over the past 250 years is about to cease. Total fertility rates are falling dramatically all over the world such that highly industrialized nations, including China and the tiger economies of SE Asia, will see their populations decline significantly in the coming decades. The socioeconomic, geopolitical and environmental ramifications of this change are considerable and invite a multidisciplinary consideration of the underlying mechanisms. In the short-term, socioeconomic factors, particularly urbanization and delayed childbearing are powerful drivers of reduced fertility. In parallel, lifestyle factors such as obesity and the presence of numerous reproductive toxicants in the environment, including air-borne pollutants, nanoplastics and electromagnetic radiation, are seriously compromising reproductive health. In the longer term, it is hypothesized that the reduction in family size that accompanies the demographic transition will decrease selection pressure on high fertility genes leading to a progressive loss of human fecundity. Paradoxically, the uptake of assisted reproductive technologies at scale, may also contribute to such fecundity loss by encouraging the retention of poor fertility genotypes within the population. Since the decline in fertility rate that accompanies the demographic transition appears to be ubiquitous, the public health implications for our species are potentially devastating.

Initial Upper Paleolithic in the Zagros Mountains

The Iranian Plateau and the Zagros Mountain chain, located at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, occupy a critical geographical position in out-of-Africa scenarios, sitting astride a major dispersal corridor into southern and central Asia. Yet, the region’s role in human population expansions remains under-investigated. Here, we present findings from new excavations at Pebdeh Cave, a site located in the southern zone of the Zagros Mountains. Pebdeh contained a well-defined layer dating to ∼42–40,000 years ago (ka), with Levallois elements alongside laminar reduction. This transitional feature in the Zagros was not dated and recorded before, and, given its similarity to Western and Central Asian industries with respect to chronology and technological features, we define it here as the Zagros Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP). Although Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic technologies have been identified in the Zagros in the time period ranging between 50 and 40 ka, suggesting the presence of Neanderthals and modern humans in the mountainous region, the overall abrupt and constrained chronology of the IUP at Pebdeh, together with the penecontemporaneous appearance of other Upper Paleolithic sites in the Zagros Mountains, is compatible with a population expansion of Homo sapiens rather than an autochthonous development.

Anthropocene: Human Activity Impact on the Climate and Environment

The environment undergoes shifts across various timescales, yet presently, human intervention remains the primary solution provider and is likely to persist in this role for the next few centuries. While it is widely recognised that human-induced, or anthropogenic, climate change contributes to global warming, what is often underestimated are the direct impacts of heavy rainfall, droughts, and storms, incurring significant costs for both society and the environment. The expansion of human populations has led to the conversion of natural ecosystems for agricultural, industrial, and residential purposes, creating a demand for environmental inputs such as fresh water, fiber, and soil fertility. This heightened demand puts increased pressure on the capacity of natural ecosystems. Deforestation, expanding agriculture, illegal fishing and hunting, unplanned tourism, and pesticide pollution have collectively led to the progressive degradation of natural habitats. The consequence is a loss of biodiversity and the removal of forests, disrupting the food and shelter sources for wildlife residing in these ecosystems. Scientific research aims to comprehend the scale of biodiversity, and land use, and contribute to mitigating the impacts of land use changes.

The long-term expansion and recession of human populations

Over the last 12,000 y, human populations have expanded and transformed critical earth systems. Yet, a key unresolved question in the environmental and social sciences remains: Why did human populations grow and, sometimes, decline in the first place? Our research builds on 20 y of archaeological research studying the deep time dynamics of human populations to propose an explanation for the long-term growth and stability of human populations. Innovations in the productive capacity of populations fuels exponential-like growth over thousands of years; however, innovations saturate over time and, often, may leave populations vulnerable to large recessions in their well-being and population density. Empirically, we find a trade-off between changes in land use that increase the production and consumption of carbohydrates, driving repeated waves of population growth over thousands of years, and the susceptibility of populations to large recessions due to a lag in the impact of humans on resources. These results shed light on the long-term drivers of human population growth and decline.

The decline of the Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr in Saudi Arabia: a values-based plan for future management

AbstractThe Critically Endangered Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) has declined to near extinction in Saudi Arabia over the last fifteen or so years. In this paper we provide a time-series assessment of changes in the rate of leopard records since the 1930’s and provide a values-based plan for the management of the species in Saudi Arabia. The number of leopard records rose sharply in the 1960’s, peaking in the early 2000s, a time where human population growth and expansion across Saudi Arabia was also increasing. However, by 2014, the number of leopard records decreased to zero where it has remained. Based upon a clear need for effective conservation of the species, we developed a values-based management plan. In applying the planning framework, we defined the management system and its elements in their current state and the required state by the year 2050. From this work, a value-based goal was established, and four key management activities were recognised (and are expanded upon in the main text). We recommend that work is done to: (1) Ensure sufficient and suitable (in terms of required habitat and prey availability) areas are protected. (2) Reduce the level of human-based predation upon leopards to ensure sustainable mortality rates. (3) Manage the species metapopulation structure in terms of genetic makeup through natural and/or facilitated movement. (4) Continue to build community capacity and willingness to manage and protect the species. If these activities can be successfully completed, a population of Arabian Leopards can exist in Saudi Arabia if it is adaptively managed to deal with any additional and/or emerging threatening processes.

Exposure of Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) to humans reduces behavioural responses to potential threats

Abstract The spatial expansion of human populations has increased the overlap between humans and wildlife, leading to the greater tolerance of many wildlife species to humans. However, our current understanding of the consequences of such tolerance is limited. In particular, we lack information on whether reduced behavioural responses to humans are indicative of reduced responses to other potential threats. We made use of a unique natural system comprising geographically adjacent, but nevertheless separate, populations of the threatened Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) that are exposed to different levels of human disturbance to test the effects of exposure to humans on ibex behavioural responses to other stimuli. We measured flight initiation distance (FID) and alert distance (AD) in males approached by four different stimuli: a human, a human with a dog, a novel object, and a leopard model. Both FID and AD decreased for all stimuli as the human exposure level increased. Ibex in areas that are highly exposed to humans reduced their behavioural responses to humans more strongly compared to other stimuli. These findings suggest that tolerance for humans may be the product of several complementary behavioural mechanisms (such as habituation and non‐random dispersal). Policy implications. Our findings align with the concern that animals highly exposed to human beings may be less capable of surviving in the wild. Our results also emphasize that the interactions between people and wild animals (such as feeding them) determine the behavioural responses of wild animals, shaping patterns of human–wildlife conflict and co‐existence. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

‘… And We have made from water every living thing’: water conservation and the Holy Qur’an

SummaryWater conservation is of particular importance for arid regions, including many Muslim-majority countries. With the added pressures of human population growth and expansion and global climate change, water conservation efforts are imperative to extending the life of current water supplies as well as to sourcing water treatment methods that are religiously congruent. We review Qur’anic verses that address water usage and conservation. We searched the English translations of the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an and the King Saud University Electronic Moshaf Project for Qur’anic scripture related to water and water conservation. A total of 25 verses were found that related to creation, water usage for agriculture and food provision/production and as a common resource for humanity. Qur’anic scripture encourages gratitude for water and wise stewardship of this resource. Specific prohibitions against the reuse of water (e.g., treated water) were not found, and recent Islamic literature supports the use of cleansed greywater. Treated greywater may thus be an additional source for agricultural needs, thus reducing the stress placed on already limited water supplies. Water conservation falls within Qur’anic scripture.

African savanna raptors show evidence of widespread population collapse and a growing dependence on protected areas.

The conversion of natural habitats to farmland is a major cause of biodiversity loss and poses the greatest extinction risk to birds worldwide. Tropical raptors are of particular concern, being relatively slow-breeding apex predators and scavengers, whose disappearance can trigger extensive cascading effects. Many of Africa's raptors are at considerable risk from habitat conversion, prey-base depletion and persecution, driven principally by human population expansion. Here we describe multiregional trends among 42 African raptor species, 88% of which have declined over a ca. 20-40-yr period, with 69% exceeding the International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria classifying species at risk of extinction. Large raptors had experienced significantly steeper declines than smaller species, and this disparity was more pronounced on unprotected land. Declines were greater in West Africa than elsewhere, and more than twice as severe outside of protected areas (PAs) than within. Worryingly, species suffering the steepest declines had become significantly more dependent on PAs, demonstrating the importance of expanding conservation areas to cover 30% of land by 2030-a key target agreed at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15. Our findings also highlight the significance of a recent African-led proposal to strengthen PA management-initiatives considered fundamental to safeguarding global biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and climate resilience.

The Issue of Man and Animal Conflict: A Case of Jhargram District, West Bengal

Man-animal conflict is an ancient concept in which humans and wild animals share the same landscapes and resources for their survival. The study investigates the increasing frequency of conflict incidents between humans and animals in various locations within Jhargram District, a region known for its close proximity to both human settlements and wildlife, particularly elephants. Currently, human-animal conflict plays a significant role in altering the landscapes of the southern region of West Bengal in India, and it also has an impact on the rural economy in Jhargram District. Human population growth and expansion, deforestation, habitat degradation, land use change, and livestock grazing in forest and forest fringe areas are all considered major causes of human-animal conflicts. The study aims to pinpoint the underlying causes and repercussions of human-animal conflicts, as well as suggest management strategies to address the issue. The study reveals that people living in forest fringe areas and close to forest protected areas are often prone to attacks, particularly by elephants and other wild animals like hyenas, wild dogs, wild boars, etc.

Characterisation of Human-Wildlife Conflict and Casualties Caused by Wildlife Attacks in Peninsular Malaysia

INTRODUCTION: This study examines human-wildlife conflict (HWC) in Peninsular Malaysia, a consequence of human population expansion, natural resource demand, deforestation, resettlement, infrastructure development, urbanization, and agricultural land growth. We analyze HWC incidents and human casualty statistics from wildlife attacks recorded by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia, between 2011-2018 and 2008-2019, respectively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected on HWC cases reported to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia (locally known as PERHILITAN), from 2011 to 2018. This data underwent processing, analysis, and presentation in tables and bar charts. RESULTS: There was an increasing trend in reported HWC cases from 2012 to 2018 (5,602 to 7,967 cases). The majority of these incidents in Peninsular Malaysia involved mammalian species such as the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), wild boar (Sus scrofa), elephant (Elephas maximus), civets (Viverridae family), and pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), totaling 33,198, 6,614, 3,797, 3,219, and 2,232 cases respectively. Notably, snakes accounted for over 80% of fatalities and injuries. CONCLUSION: This report is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of HWC cases and casualties due to wildlife attacks in Peninsular Malaysia. Our findings highlight the urgent need for policy evaluation and improved inter-agency coordination for effective HWC management, wildlife conservation, and reduction of wildlife attack casualties

The Textile Hypothesis

Beginning in the Levant at the end of the Pleistocene era 11,700 years ago and emerging subsequently in other regions, the advent of farming and food production sustained a massive expansion of human populations, facilitated a host of socioeconomic and technological developments, and transformed much of the world’s land surface. The capacity of farming to support a rapidly growing population may appear to explain why farming first began. However, fundamental questions remain, including whether farming was ever a preferred subsistence option for mobile foragers—and for early farmers. In addition to the failure of farming to appear anywhere in the world prior to the early Holocene, the security and flexibility of hunting and gathering contrasts with the disadvantages associated with relying on farming for food. In querying the prevailing food paradigm, it is argued that fibre production for woven cloth in response to warmer, moister climate regimes in the early Holocene tipped the balance in favour of farming. Contingent on complex clothing acquiring social functions of dress and modesty during the late Pleistocene, and considered in conjunction with the early farming dispersal hypothesis, the textile hypothesis circumvents unfounded presumptions and offers a parsimonious explanatory paradigm for the origins of farming.

A multi-method approach with machine learning to evaluating the distribution and intensity of prehistoric land use in Eastern Iberia

The present study seeks to better understand the coupling of social and biophysical systems during the late Pleistocene and Holocene, a period characterized by changing interglacial conditions as well as human population expansion and intensified ecosystem management. The approach consists of a combination of patch-based archaeological survey methods, sediment column sampling for paleoenvironmental data, geospatial analysis, and machine learning for chronological unmixing, allowing the systematic evaluation of the distribution and intensity of prehistoric land use in the study area of eastern Mediterranean Iberia. Occupational and Land Use Intensity maps developed from continuous distributions of surface artifacts as well as a summed probability density curve developed from 14C dates indicate low but steady human presence in the study area during the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic with a marked decrease of human presence across the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. The Early (and Middle) Neolithic saw the most ubiquitous and intensive occupation of the study area followed by a significant decline during the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic. The charcoal analysis also supports this pattern. Early Neolithic farming strategies may not have been damaging initially during the climatic regime of the Early Holocene but exacerbated the impacts of higher temperatures and summer droughts, with a loss of the most productive farmland, seen at the onset of the Late Neolithic. Similar boom-bust population trends have been documented throughout Europe during these same time spans and may indicate a recursive interaction or “coupling” between global and regional climate events and human land use strategies.

Ecovoltaics - A Truly Ecological and Green Source of Renewable Goods

Abstract The intensive exploitation of natural resources, expansion of human population and degradation of natural and semi-natural habitats, caused among others by agriculture, forestry and urbanisation, enforce special care for the natural resources, especially the disappearing types of vegetation that are refugees of biodiversity. One of the most threatened plant communities are grasslands (pastures and meadows), which has suffered the most in recent decades due to the intensification of agriculture and the transformation of land use. The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid approach to clean energy production on photovoltaic (PV) farms, taking into account the needs of grassland conservation and restoration. Nine sets of sciophilous species are proposed, including grasslands rich of pollinator benefits, grasslands with low pollen production to maintain high electrical efficiency of panels, and rich, standard meadows in wet (Molinion, Calthion, Alopecurion, Cnidion), fresh (Arrhenatherion) and dry (Cirsio-Brachypodion) types. The combination of clean energy and grassland conservation has been called ecovoltaics (EV) because it combines the production of renewable electricity with care for the diversity of valuable grassland ecosystems. The research will continue on an experimental ecovoltaic farm with innovative technical solutions to effectively maintain the desired meadow species composition. The purpose of this study was to analyse and select plant species that could be introduced into areas where PV cells are installed under climatic conditions in southern Poland. Using databases, environmental and ecological factors were taken into account. As a result of the study, a list of 206 species was selected that could be introduced to areas where they will coexist with PV panels, taking into account the effect of shading. The developed selection of these plant species provides a starting point for future work by botanists and engineers seeking to increase the biodiversity of sites where PV panels will be placed.

Drivers of land use changes and impacts on human-hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) interactions in villages adjacent to Lake Babati, Tanzania

Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) are victims of land use changes (LUC) due to their semi-aquatic nature. Although human–hippopotamus interactions (HHI) are known to exist in the area surrounding Lake Babati, nothing is known about the LUC in relation to the interactions. The study aimed at assessing the trend of LUC in the last 20 years in relation to time of establishing new settlement and farming seasons in relation to HHI, respondents’ perceptions of HHI, and mitigation measures used by local people against Hippos adjacent Lake Babati. Remote sensing and GIS techniques, questionnaires and focused group discussions were used to assess human perceptions regarding trends of the LUC in the study area. LUC was monitored by using landsat images from the years 1999 and 2019. The findings indicate an increase in settlement while water, agroforestry, and seasonal agricultural lands were decreasing. The time respondents stayed in the village, farm size, and respondents’ perception of HHI trends were observed to vary with the distance from the lake. The presence of LUC on adjacent Lake Babati jeopardized the ecological integrity of Hippos’ habitat and increased tension and overlap between hippos’ and human needs. The findings provide a baseline for managing HHI and recommend proper land use planning that prioritizes the use of alternative crops like fruit trees especially within 3 km from the lake. Human population and settlement expansion patterns should also be monitored in areas closer to the lake for sustaining wildlife conservation and livelihood development in Lake Babati and surrounding areas.

Managing the Use of Insecticides in Agricultural Fields: A Modeling Study

At present time, sustainable crop production is of prime importance due to the expansion of human population and diminishing cultivable land. Insects attack the plants’ roots, blooms and leaves and lessen the agricultural production across the globe. In this research work, we propose a nonlinear mathematical model to manage the spray of insecticides to control insect population and increase crop production. In the model formulation, we consider that the spraying of insecticides is attributed to both the density of insects and loss in crop production. This study identifies the range of spraying rate of insecticides at which the model system shows bistability behavior and its threshold value after which system stabilizes to the equilibrium with higher crop production. Further, we have also demonstrated that the model undergoes transcritical, saddle-node, Hopf, and Bogdanov–Takens bifurcations. The extensive numerical simulation is performed to validate the analytical findings.

Prehistoric population expansion in Central Asia promoted by the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum

How climate change in the middle to late Holocene has influenced the early human migrations in Central Asian Steppe remains poorly understood. To address this issue, we reconstructed a multiproxy-based Holocene climate history from the sediments of Kanas Lake and neighboring Tiewaike Lake in the southern Altai Mountains. The results show an exceptionally warm climate during ~6.5–3.6 kyr is indicated by the silicon isotope composition of diatom silica (δ30Sidiatom) and the biogenic silica (BSi) content. During 4.7-4.3 kyr, a peak in δ30Sidiatom reflects enhanced lake thermal stratification and periodic nutrient limitation as indicated by concomitant decreasing BSi content. Our geochemical results indicate a significantly warm and wet climate in the Altai Mountain region during 6.5–3.6 kyr, corresponding to the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum (AHCO), which is critical for promoting prehistoric human population expansion and intensified cultural exchanges across the Central Asian steppe during the Bronze Age.

Preface

The Second International Conference of Advance Veterinary Science and Technologies for Sustainable Development (2nd ICAVESS) 17 -18 September 2022 [Virtual Conference] https://icavess.ugm.ac.idThe Second International Conference of Advance Veterinary Science and Technologies for Sustainable Development is an academic platform organised by Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia in collaboration with Asian Association of Veterinary Schools and World Organisation of Animal Health Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific (WOAH-RRAP). Following the success of the first ICAVESS, The 2nd ICAVESS held virtually on September 17-18, 2022 with theme “Multidiscipline Collaboration for The Innovative and Productive Development in Veterinary Science”.With the development of the era, the challenges faced by researchers, academics, practitioners, community institutions, industry, and stakeholders are also becoming more complex. This is what then drives the urgency to implement integrated collaboration from various backgrounds in expertise. The United Nations in the agenda for sustainable development has set 17 goals, including good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, and partnerships for the goals. These goal points are further elaborated as the aspiration to achieve a healthy and prosperous life, conservation and sustainability as well as resource utilization in the waters and on land, biodiversity sustainability, and the need to fight the climate change and its impacts,Cases such as COVID-19, genetic mutation, dynamics of disease transmission, and zoonotic cases require various parties with different disciplines to handle them. As another example, the occurrence of emerging and re-emerging diseases is triggered by various factors. These factors include human population expansion, urbanization, globalization, climate change, poverty, social inequality, migration, trade and consumption of wildlife, livestock production industry, irrational use of antimicrobials, development of antimicrobial resistance in humans and live stocks, and the implementation of public health measures such as vaccination and sanitation. The scope of aspects of predisposing factors for emerging and re-emerging diseases illustrates the breadth and dynamics of the problems that must be resolved, and these may not be achievable by only involving a single contribution from certain parties. The dynamics and variety of challenges faced require productive development. Solving these matters requires a multidisciplinary teamwork. In addition, the 2nd ICAVESS is expected to include a multidisciplinary approach to improve quality, productivity, and opportunities for publications. Thus, the collaboration results not only end in this conference but can also benefit various parties.The committee successfully hosted the event as the plenary sessions, AAVS veterinary education session, AAVS-UGM-WOAH joint session and parallel presentation sessions in a virtual way due to COVID 19 pandemic. This conference presented insightful talks from 6 invited speakers from Finland, Indonesia, America, Thailand, Germany, Japan, inspiring innovation sharing from 3 presenters in AAVS Vet Education Session, and great session from speakers of AAVS-WOAH-UGM Sessions.List of Keynote Speakers, Invited Speakers, AAVS Vet Education Session, AAVS Vet Edu Day 2 (AAVS-WOAH-UGM Session), Committee are available in this Pdf.

Genomic diversity and differentiation between island and mainland populations of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla).

Divergence in the face of high dispersal capabilities is a documented but poorly understood phenomenon. The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) has a large geographic dispersal capability and should theoretically be able to maintain genetic homogeneity across its dispersal range. However, following analysis of the genomic variation of white-tailed eagles, from both historical and contemporary samples, clear signatures of ancient biogeographic substructure across Europe and the North-East Atlantic is observed. The greatest genomic differentiation was observed between island (Greenland and Iceland) and mainland (Denmark, Norway and Estonia) populations. The two island populations share a common ancestry from a single mainland population, distinct from the other sampled mainland populations, and despite the potential for high connectivity between Iceland and Greenland they are well separated from each other and are characterized by inbreeding and little variation. Temporal differences also highlight a pattern of regional populations persisting despite the potential for admixture. All sampled populations generally showed a decline in effective population size over time, which may have been shaped by four historical events: (1) Isolation of refugia during the last glacial period 110-115,000 years ago, (2) population divergence following the colonization of the deglaciated areas ~10,000 years ago, (3) human population expansion, which led to the settlement in Iceland ~1100 years ago, and (4) human persecution and exposure to toxic pollutants during the last two centuries.