Deciphering translocations from relicts in Baranof Island mountain goats: is an endemic genetic lineage at risk?

Abstract

Human-mediated movement of wildlife is a common practice in North America. Some translocations have occurred where local populations were thought to be extinct or simply not present. In Alaska's Alexander Archipelago, mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) were not considered indigenous and were introduced to Baranof Island in 1923. However, a range-wide survey using microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA revealed a distinct genetic subpopulation endemic to the island. In this study, we attempted to clarify the evolutionary history of the mountain goats on Baranof Island by examining sequence variation in the Y chromosome. We first screened five regions of the Y chromosome in a subset of mountain goats from across their native range. We detected a single polymorphic site in the SRY promoter, and subsequently sequenced this gene in 100 mountain goats. A unique Y chromosome polymorphism was restricted to Baranof Island and an area near Haines, Alaska, and not detected in the presumed source population.

Living on the edge: Exploring the role of coastal refugia in the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska

“…Although we are just beginning to explore the complex AA, preliminary studies suggest a significant role for northern coastal refugia in diversifying and structuring contemporary communities (e.g., de Volo et al, ; Hannon et al, ; Shafer et al, ). Reconstruction of paleoshorelines is complex due to non‐linear changes as a result in lithospheric rebound (Josenhans, Fedje, Pienitz, & Southon, ) and submerged signatures of glacial extent, but our reconstructions of historical island connectivity, and potential colonization pathways suggest the potential for multiple LGM glacial refugia in Southeast Alaska (Figures and ): (a) mainland near Glacier Bay, (b) outer Baranof and Chichagof islands, (c) Forrester refugial complex, which would possibly result in post‐glacial colonization through Prince of Wales, Zarembo and Mitkof islands, (d) Coronation refugial complex, colonization through Kuiu and Kupreanof islands, or (e) Annette‐Duke refugium, south of Gravina Island.…”

“…Although we are just beginning to explore the complex AA, preliminary studies suggest a significant role for northern coastal refugia in diversifying and structuring contemporary communities (e.g., de Volo et al, 2013;Hannon et al, 2010;Shafer et al, 2011). Reconstruction of paleoshorelines is complex due to non-linear changes as a result in lithospheric rebound (Josenhans, Fedje, Pienitz, & Southon, 1997) and submerged signatures of glacial extent, but our reconstructions of historical island connectivity, and potential colonization pathways suggest the potential for multiple LGM glacial refugia in Southeast Species distribution models ( Figure 2) for each species suggest suitable climate supported offshore habitat on the exposed shelf and select western islands (Table 1) (Hetherington et al, 2003).…”

“…Previous regional phylogeographic studies identified divergent and endemic populations of various taxa, including a number of vascular and non‐vascular plants (Brodo & Sloan, ; Hannon, D'Amore, Witter, & Lamb, ; Soltis, Gitzendanner, Strenge, & Soltis, ), terrestrial invertebrates (Clarke, Levin, Kavanaugh, & Reimchen, ), fishes (Kondzela et al, ; O'Reilly, Reimchen, Beech, & Strobeck, ; Smith, Nelson, Wood, & Koop, ), birds (Barry & Tallmon, ; Bull, McCracken, Gaston, Birt, & Friesen, ; de Volo, Reynolds, Sonsthagen, Talbot, & Antolin, ), and a series of mammals such as northern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys sabrinus , Bidlack & Cook, ), red‐backed voles (genus Myodes , Runck, Matocq, & Cook, ), red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus , Hope et al, ), ermine ( Mustela erminea , Dawson, Hope, Talbot, & Cook, ; Fleming & Cook, ), black bear (Ursus americanus , Peacock, Peacock, & Titus, ), and mountain goats ( Oreamnos americanus , Shafer, White, Cote, & Coltman, ). To date, few studies in the AA have focused on co‐distributed, multi‐species assemblages.…”

GenGIS 2: Geospatial analysis of traditional and genetic biodiversity, with new gradient algorithms and an extensible plugin framework

“…We developed GenGIS (Beiko et al 2008;Parks et al 2009a) as a tool to merge geographic, ecological and phylogenetic biodiversity data in a single interactive visualization and analysis environment which supports a wider range of visualization and analysis options than existing software packages. Since its release, GenGIS has been used to investigate the phylogeography of viruses (Parks et al 2009b;Tucker et al 2011), bacteria (Farikou et al 2011), plants Poczai et al 2011), animals (Ruzzante et al 2011;Shafer et al 2011), insects (Schoville and Roderick 2010), humans (Loo et al 2011), and language families (Walker et al 2012). …”

GenGIS 2: Geospatial analysis of traditional and genetic biodiversity, with new gradient algorithms and an extensible plugin framework

“…We developed GenGIS (Beiko et al 2008;Parks et al 2009a) as a tool to merge geographic, ecological and phylogenetic biodiversity data in a single interactive visualization and analysis environment which supports a wider range of visualization and analysis options than existing software packages. Since its release, GenGIS has been used to investigate the phylogeography of viruses (Parks et al 2009b;Tucker et al 2011), bacteria (Farikou et al 2011), plants (Allal et al 2011;Poczai et al 2011), animals (Ruzzante et al 2011;Shafer et al 2011), insects (Schoville and Roderick 2010), humans (Loo et al 2011), and language families (Walker et al 2012).…”