We analyzed intraspecific mitochondrial DNA variation in chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from drainages in the Yukon River (Alaska and Yukon Territory), the Kenai River (Alaska), and Oregon and California rivers; and chum salmon... more
We analyzed intraspecific mitochondrial DNA variation in chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from drainages in the Yukon River (Alaska and Yukon Territory), the Kenai River (Alaska), and Oregon and California rivers; and chum salmon (O. keta) from the Yukon River and Vancouver Island, and Washington rivers. For each species, three different portions of the mtDNA molecule were amplified separately using the polymerase chain reaction and then digested with at least 19 restriction enzymes. Intraspecific sequence divergences between haplotypes were less than 0.01 base substitution per nucleotide. Nine chum salmon haplotypes were identified. Yukon River chum salmon stocks displayed more haplotypes (eight) than the stocks of Vancouver Island and Washington (two). The most common chum salmon haplotype occurred in all areas. Seven chinook salmon haplotypes were identified. Four haplotypes occurred in the Yukon and Kenai rivers and four occurred in Oregon/California, with only one haplotype shared between the regions. Sample sizes were too small to quantify the degree of stock separation among drainages, but the patterns of variation that we observed suggest utility of the technique in genetic stock identification.
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Research Interests: Geography, Petroleum, Environmental Management, Population Dynamics, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreInformation, Environmental Sciences, Arctic, Biological Conservation, Industry, Data, Biological, Animal migration, Caribou, Mineral Resources, Population Density, Human impact, Developed Countries, HERD, and Bay
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Phylogenetics, Biology, and 15 moreMedicine, Artiodactyla, Mammals, Phylogeny, Humans, Placenta, Hippopotamus, Animals, Cetacea, Phylogenetic Tree, Amino Acid Sequence, Base Sequence, Milk Protein, Biochemistry and cell biology, and Molecular Sequence Data
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Research Interests: Genetics, Population Genetics, Biology, Medicine, Population structure, and 15 moreAnimal Genetics, Population, Animals, Cluster Analysis, Microsatellite, North America, Cattle, Genetic Differentiation, Genetic variation, Veterinary Sciences, Species Specificity, Bayes Theorem, Genetic distance, Alaska, and microsatellite loci
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The three species of bears in North America, polar bears (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774), brown bears (Ursus arctos L., 1758), and black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780), have differentiated morphologies and nuclear and mitochondrial... more
The three species of bears in North America, polar bears (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774), brown bears (Ursus arctos L., 1758), and black bears (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780), have differentiated morphologies and nuclear and mitochondrial genomes. An exception is a paraphyletic mitochondrial DNA relationship and some nuclear gene lineages common to polar bears and a population of brown bears from islands in southeast Alaska. In this study, we quantified the genetic relationships of extant brown bears and black bears from Alaska and Montana, and polar bears from Alaska, with amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) and mtDNA cytochrome-b sequences. Bayesian cluster analyses of the AFLP data show each species is distinct. All brown bears, including those from the islands in southeast Alaska, cluster separately from polar bears, and black bears cluster separately from brown bears and polar bears. The mtDNA of polar bears and southeast Alaska island brown bears is paraphyletic as r...
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Research Interests: Geography, Australia, Biology, Genomic Imprinting, Language, and 15 morePapua New Guinea, Medicine, Biological Sciences, Phylogeny, Pacific Islands, Mitochondrial DNA, Humans, Female, Asia, Male, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Genetic variation, Short Tandem Repeat, Genetic Markers, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Elevated oil field pipelines may alter Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) movements and delay or prevent access to insect relief habitat. In an attempt to determine if the 40-km elevated Badami pipeline in northern Alaska changed Caribou... more
Elevated oil field pipelines may alter Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) movements and delay or prevent access to insect relief habitat. In an attempt to determine if the 40-km elevated Badami pipeline in northern Alaska changed Caribou use of riparian habitats at the three river crossings where the pipeline is buried, we quantified Caribou habitat use at all three crossings using time-lapse video cameras and aerial distribution surveys over three summers. We compared habitat use, behavior and duration of observations among pipeline and non-pipeline sites. We used a block experimental design with cameras at four sites at the three river crossings to evaluate differences in numbers of Caribou per day at pipeline and non-pipeline sites. At each crossing, four cameras were positioned, with one pair of cameras next to the pipeline (pipeline sites) and one pair of cameras 1.8-3.2 km upstream from the pipeline (non-pipeline sites); where cameras monitored the river bank and channel (rive...
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The presence or absence of antlers in female caribou and reindeer may reflect genetic or nutritional effects. We classified antler status of female caribou of the Alaska Central Arctic Herd in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and female reindeer in... more
The presence or absence of antlers in female caribou and reindeer may reflect genetic or nutritional effects. We classified antler status of female caribou of the Alaska Central Arctic Herd in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and female reindeer in two captive Alaskan herds in 1994. Of 3091 female caribou classified during three years, 152 (4.9%) were antlerless. Frequency of antlerless females in the Central Arctic Herd was similar to that of other Alaskan caribou herds. There were no antlerless females among 231 classified captive reindeer. We compared the frequency of antlerless females in the Alaskan herds with other herds, and possible nutritional and genetic influences on female antler status are discussed.
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Radiotelemetry data have shown that polar bears ( Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774 ) occur in separate subpopulations in the Chukchi Sea and the southern Beaufort Sea. However, segregation is not absolute, and there is overlap of ranges of... more
Radiotelemetry data have shown that polar bears ( Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774 ) occur in separate subpopulations in the Chukchi Sea and the southern Beaufort Sea. However, segregation is not absolute, and there is overlap of ranges of animals in each subpopulation. We used genetic variation at eight microsatellite DNA loci and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to further assess the degree of spatial structure of polar bears from the Chukchi and southern Beaufort seas. Microsatellite allele frequencies and mtDNA haplotype frequencies of bears from the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas did not differ significantly. Lack of differentiation at both maternally inherited mtDNA and bi-parentally inherited microsatellite loci suggests that gene flow between the two areas is mediated by both sexes. The genetic data indicate that polar bears in the southern Beaufort and Chukchi seas compose one interbreeding population. However, there is considerable fidelity to ranges in each area, particularly by...
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Research Interests: Environmental Management, Population Dynamics, Biological Sciences, Information, Environmental Sciences, and 14 moreBiological Conservation, Industry, Resources, Data, Biological, Animal migration, Wildlife Management, Caribou, Mineral Resources, Population Density, Human impact, Populations, Rangifer tarandus, and Developed Countries
Research Interests: Genetics, Geography, Gene Flow, Population Dynamics, Phylogeny, and 15 moreAnimal Genetics, Europe, Animal, Animals, Cluster Analysis, Caribou, Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, North America, Genetic Differentiation, Genetic variation, Veterinary Sciences, Microsatellite DNA, Allele Frequency, and Gene frequency
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There has been concern that a causeway leading to oil production facilities in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea could affect the extent of emigration from, and immigration into, a population of broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) in the... more
There has been concern that a causeway leading to oil production facilities in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea could affect the extent of emigration from, and immigration into, a population of broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) in the Sagavanirktok River. To assess this, we analyzed the genetic relationships of the broad whitefish populations in the Sagavanirktok River, and the nearest adjacent population, in the Colville River. Three microsatellite loci from the nuclear genome, and the NADH-1 gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), were analyzed. Diploid genotypes were determined with PCR amplification of the microsatellite loci, and mtDNA genotypes were identified with PCR amplification followed by sequencing of 798 nucleotides. Several alleles were identified at each locus and both populations had high levels of genetic variation. There is significant differentiation of the Sagavanirktok River and Colville River broad whitefish stocks for the three microsatellite loci (FST = 0.031) but not mtDNA (FST < 0.001). Possible explanations for the lower level of differentiation of mtDNA than microsatellites include female-mediated gene flow between populations, skewed sex ratios, natural selection, or mutation. The results indicate that there is limited gene flow between the Colville and Sagavanirktok rivers, which represent semi-isolated spawning populations.
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... Allozyme fre-quencies vary considerably between mule deer and black-tailed deer (Cronin, 1991 a; Gavin and May, 1988), and between white-tailed deer from southeastern North Amer-ica (0. v. virginianus) and South America (0. v.... more
... Allozyme fre-quencies vary considerably between mule deer and black-tailed deer (Cronin, 1991 a; Gavin and May, 1988), and between white-tailed deer from southeastern North Amer-ica (0. v. virginianus) and South America (0. v. gymnotis-Smith et al., 1986). ...
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ABSTRACT Productivity of naturally spawning salmon populations is sometimes estimated by sampling incubating eggs from the spawning grounds to assess survival by pumping water or an air–water mixture into the stream gravel and collecting... more
ABSTRACT Productivity of naturally spawning salmon populations is sometimes estimated by sampling incubating eggs from the spawning grounds to assess survival by pumping water or an air–water mixture into the stream gravel and collecting eggs displaced by the resulting agitation. General knowledge regarding embryo sensitivity to physical shock indicates that this procedure may kill eggs if conducted before embryo development has advanced beyond blastopore closure, which is up to day 12 postfertilization. In 1998, we assessed the impact of sample timing on egg mortality estimates of pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha in 10 spawning streams in Prince William Sound, Alaska, by hydraulically sampling the same streams in September and again in October. The mean egg mortality was significantly higher in the early sampling period (63.6%) than in the later sampling period (22.8%). Results from examining stage of advancement at the time of embryo death indicate that sampling with hydraulic techniques will elevate mortality among embryos that have advanced in development up to the early eyed stage, corresponding to day 20 in embryo development or approximately 50% longer than previously thought. To avoid induced embryo fatality, the sampling protocol should delay assessment of spawning ground survival until sufficient time has past to assure that the most recently spawned eggs have progressed well into the eye pigmentation stage.
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Research Interests: Zoology and Polar Bear
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We used restriction enzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified mitochondrial DNA to assess genetic differentiation of two subspecies of walruses: Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Greenland and Pacific... more
We used restriction enzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified mitochondrial DNA to assess genetic differentiation of two subspecies of walruses: Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Greenland and Pacific walruses (O. r. divergens) from the Chukchi Sea. Each subspecies has distinct monophyletic mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence between Atlantic and Pacific subspecies was 1.0–1.6%. Several haplotypes were observed for each subspecies. Haplotype frequencies varied among sampling locations of Atlantic walruses, suggesting that mitochondrial DNA may be useful for walrus stock identification.
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BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to... more
BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Yale University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-125).
Grizzly bears are abundant in the region of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in northern Alaska. We used field observations and molecular genetic data to identify parent-offspring and sibling relationships among bears in this region. We... more
Grizzly bears are abundant in the region of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in northern Alaska. We used field observations and molecular genetic data to identify parent-offspring and sibling relationships among bears in this region. We determined genotypes at 14 microsatellite DNA loci and the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for 36 bears. We identified 17 possible mother-offspring pairs and 8 possible father-offspring pairs. This includes verification of the relationships of 14 mother-offspring pairs identified from field observations. Three additional mother-offspring pairs and all eight father-offspring pairs were determined from genetic and age data. Relatedness coefficients based on numbers of shared alleles between individuals were as expected: approximately 0.50 for parent-offspring and sibling pairs and approximately 0.75 for a father-offspring pair resulting from a father-daughter mating. The level of genetic variation (mean number of alleles per locus = 6.6, mean ...
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It was hypothesized in previous studies that the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, induced heritable mutations and resulted in mortality of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) embryos. In one of these studies,... more
It was hypothesized in previous studies that the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, induced heritable mutations and resulted in mortality of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) embryos. In one of these studies, laboratory exposure of pink salmon embryos to crude oil resulted in apparent mutation-induction in exon 1 and exon 2 of the K-ras oncogene, but no fish from the area impacted by the oil spill were analyzed. We assessed K-ras exon 1 and exon 2 DNA sequences in pink salmon from five streams that were oiled and five streams that were not oiled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, and two streams with natural oil seeps and one stream without seeps on the Alaska Peninsula. Of the 79 fish analyzed for exon 1 and the 89 fish analyzed for exon 2, none had the nucleotide substitutions representing the mutations induced in the laboratory study. Other variable nucleotides occurred in similar proportions in oiled and non-oiled streams and probably ...
Research Interests: Ecotoxicology, Petroleum, Environmental Pollution, Oil Spill, Biological Sciences, and 15 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Mutation, Animals, DNA sequence design, Genome, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Crude Oil, Base Sequence, Embryos, Nucleotides, Case Control Studies, Alaska, DNA sequence, Molecular Sequence Data, and Nucleotide substitution
A white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population in northeastern Minnesota and a mule deer (O. hemionus) population in the Bridger Mountains Montana, have previously been shown to be spatially subdivided into contiguous... more
A white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population in northeastern Minnesota and a mule deer (O. hemionus) population in the Bridger Mountains Montana, have previously been shown to be spatially subdivided into contiguous subpopulations. We assessed the degree of genetic differentiation among subpopulations and tested the hypothesis that differentiation will be greater for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) than for nuclear-encoded allozymes. Differentiation of the white-tailed deer subpopulations was significant for two allozyme loci but not for mtDNA, and the overall degree of differentiation was low. Gene flow, recent founding of the subpopulations, and polygamous breeding structure may all have contributed to this pattern. Greater differentiation was evident among disjunct populations than between the contiguous subpopulations of white-tailed deer. The contiguous mule deer subpopulations were significantly differentiated for mtDNA and one allozyme locus. Differentiation was greater ...
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Feral livestock may harbor genetic variation of commercial, scientific, historical or esthetic value. Origins and uniqueness of feral cattle on Chirikof Island, Alaska are uncertain. The island is now part of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife... more
Feral livestock may harbor genetic variation of commercial, scientific, historical or esthetic value. Origins and uniqueness of feral cattle on Chirikof Island, Alaska are uncertain. The island is now part of the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge and Federal wildlife managers want grazing to cease, presumably leading to demise of the cattle. Here we characterize the Chirikof Island cattle relative to extant breeds and discern their origins. Our analyses support the inference that Russian cattle arrived first on Chirikof Island, then approximately 120 years ago the first European taurine cattle were introduced to the island, and finally a large wave of Hereford cattle were introduced on average 40 years ago. While clearly Bos taurus taurus, the Chirikof Island cattle appear at least as distinct as other recognized breeds. Further, this mixture of European and East-Asian cattle is unique compared to other North American breeds and we find evidence that natural selection in the relativel...
There is considerable interest in the genetics of wolves (Canis lupus) because of their close relationship to domestic dogs (C. familiaris) and the need for informed conservation and management. This includes wolf populations in Southeast... more
There is considerable interest in the genetics of wolves (Canis lupus) because of their close relationship to domestic dogs (C. familiaris) and the need for informed conservation and management. This includes wolf populations in Southeast Alaska for which we determined genotypes of 305 wolves at 173662 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. After removal of invariant and linked SNP, 123801 SNP were used to quantify genetic differentiation of wolves in Southeast Alaska and wolves, coyotes (C. latrans), and dogs from other areas in North America. There is differentiation of SNP allele frequencies between the species (wolves, coyotes, and dogs), although differentiation is relatively low between some wolf and coyote populations. There are varying levels of differentiation among populations of wolves, including low differentiation of wolves in interior Alaska, British Columbia, and the northern US Rocky Mountains. There is considerable differentiation of SNP allele frequencies of wo...
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Many new terms have come into use for intra-species groups of animals defined with genetic criteria including subspecies, evolutionarily significant units, evolutionary units, management units, metapopulations, distinct population... more
Many new terms have come into use for intra-species groups of animals defined with genetic criteria including subspecies, evolutionarily significant units, evolutionary units, management units, metapopulations, distinct population segments, populations, and subpopulations. These terms have redundant meanings and can lead to confusion for biologists, managers, and policy makers. I propose that for wildlife management we can simplify intra-species terminology and
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Research Interests: Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Environmental Science, Developmental Biology, Climate Change, and 15 moreComputational Biology, Biotechnology, Cancer, Biology, Cell Cycle, Ecology, Drug Discovery, Astrophysics, Astronomy, DNA, Animals, Classification, Cell Signalling, Conservation of Natural Resources, and Earth Science
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Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) can be adversely affected by hunting and other human perturbations because of low population densities and low reproduction rates. The sustainable take of adult females may be as low as 1.5% of the... more
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) can be adversely affected by hunting and other human perturbations because of low population densities and low reproduction rates. The sustainable take of adult females may be as low as 1.5% of the population. Females and accompanying young are most vulnerable to hunting, and hunters have not consistently reported the sex composition of the harvest, therefore a method to confirm the sexes of polar bears harvested in Alaska is needed. Evidence of the sex of harvested animals is often not available, but blood or other tissue samples often are. We extracted DNA from tissue and blood samples, and amplified segments of zinc finger (ZFX and ZFY) genes from both X and Y chromosomes with the polymerase chain reaction. Digestion of amplified portions of the X chromosome with the restriction enzyme HaeIII resulted in subdivision of the original amplified segment into four smaller fragments. Digestion with HaeIII did not subdivide the original segment amplified fr...
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Northern pintails (Anas acuta) are highly nomadic, which may result in high levels of gene flow among nesting areas. To assess the extent of genetic differentiation among nesting areas, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in... more
Northern pintails (Anas acuta) are highly nomadic, which may result in high levels of gene flow among nesting areas. To assess the extent of genetic differentiation among nesting areas, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in northern pintail females from three regions: Alaska, California, and midcontinent prairies and parklands. Abundant mtDNA variation was evident (20 genotypes among 289 birds), but there was no significant genetic differentiation of nesting areas within or among regions. Results indicate that pintails have had historically large breeding population sizes and a high rate of gene flow among North American nesting areas. Specific nesting areas are not independent units, but part of a larger continental population. High rates of gene flow suggest that over time, localized reductions in recruitment or survival may be compensated for by immigration.
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We used restriction enzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified mitochondrial DNA to assess genetic differentiation of two subspecies of walruses: Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Greenland and Pacific... more
We used restriction enzyme analysis of polymerase chain reaction amplified mitochondrial DNA to assess genetic differentiation of two subspecies of walruses: Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) from Greenland and Pacific walruses (O. r. divergens) from the Chukchi Sea. Each subspecies has distinct monophyletic mitochondrial DNA haplotypes. Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence between Atlantic and Pacific subspecies was 1.0–1.6%. Several haplotypes were observed for each subspecies. Haplotype frequencies varied among sampling locations of Atlantic walruses, suggesting that mitochondrial DNA may be useful for walrus stock identification.
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Parasitic insect abundance and microclimate of gravel pads and tundra within the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, Alaska, in relation to use by Caribou, Rangifer tarandus granti. RH Pollard, WB Ballard, LE Noel, MA Cronin Canadian field-naturalist.... more
Parasitic insect abundance and microclimate of gravel pads and tundra within the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, Alaska, in relation to use by Caribou, Rangifer tarandus granti. RH Pollard, WB Ballard, LE Noel, MA Cronin Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa ON 110:44, 649-658, 12/1996. ...
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We identified the HindIII restriction site polymorphism of kappa-casein in cattle reported by Pinder et al. (Animal Genetics 22, 11, 1991) and found an additional polymorphism (RsaI) in cattle and bison. The HindIII and RsaI restriction... more
We identified the HindIII restriction site polymorphism of kappa-casein in cattle reported by Pinder et al. (Animal Genetics 22, 11, 1991) and found an additional polymorphism (RsaI) in cattle and bison. The HindIII and RsaI restriction sites were mapped and three haplotypes (alleles) were identified. Preliminary screening of 39 cattle and 71 bison revealed one allele restricted to cattle, one restricted to bison, and one shared by the species. No fixed allelic differences were observed among cattle breeds or among bison herds or subspecies.