RESUMO
The study of animal movement provides insights into underlying ecological processes and informs analyses of behaviour and resource use, which have implications for species management and conservation. The tools used to study animal movement have evolved over the past decades, allowing for data collection from a variety of species, including those living in remote environments. Satellite-linked radio and GPS collars have been used to study polar bear (Ursus maritimus) ecology and movements throughout the circumpolar Arctic for over 50 years. However, due to morphology and growth constraints, only adult female polar bears can be reliably collared. Collars have proven to be safe, but there has been opposition to their use, resulting in a deficiency in data across much of the species' range. To bolster knowledge of movement characteristics and behaviours for polar bears other than adult females, while also providing an alternative to collars, we tested the use of fur- and ear-mounted telemetry tags that can be affixed to polar bears of any sex and age. We tested three fur tag designs (SeaTrkr, tribrush and pentagon tags), which we affixed to 15 adult and 1 subadult male polar bears along the coast of Hudson Bay during August-September 2021-2022. Fur tags were compared with ear tags deployed on 42 subadult and adult male polar bears captured on the coast or the sea ice between 2016 and 2022. We used data from the tags to quantify the amount of time subadult and adult males spent resting versus traveling while on land. Our results show the three fur tag designs remained functional for shorter mean durations (SeaTrkr = 58 days; tribrush = 47 days; pentagon = 22 days) than ear tags (121 days), but positional error estimates were comparable among the Argos-equipped tags. The GPS/Iridium-equipped SeaTrkr fur tags provided higher resolution and more frequent location data. Combined, the tags provided sufficient data to model different behavioural states. Furthermore, as hypothesized, subadult and adult male polar bears spent the majority of their time resting while on land, increasing time spent traveling as temperatures cooled. Fur tags show promise as a short-term means of collecting movement data from free-ranging polar bears. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40317-024-00373-2.
RESUMO
Understanding the evolutionary history of contemporary animal groups is essential for conservation and management of endangered species like caribou (Rangifer tarandus). In central Canada, the ranges of two caribou subspecies (barren-ground/woodland caribou) and two woodland caribou ecotypes (boreal/eastern migratory) overlap. Our objectives were to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the eastern migratory ecotype and to assess the potential role of introgression in ecotype evolution. STRUCTURE analyses identified five higher order groups (i.e. three boreal caribou populations, eastern migratory ecotype and barren-ground). The evolutionary history of the eastern migratory ecotype was best explained by an early genetic introgression from barren-ground into a woodland caribou lineage during the Late Pleistocene and subsequent divergence of the eastern migratory ecotype during the Holocene. These results are consistent with the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet and the colonization of the Hudson Bay coastal areas subsequent to the establishment of forest tundra vegetation approximately 7000 years ago. This historical reconstruction of the eastern migratory ecotype further supports its current classification as a conservation unit, specifically a Designatable Unit, under Canada's Species at Risk Act. These findings have implications for other sub-specific contact zones for caribou and other North American species in conservation unit delineation.