Climate change impacted caribou
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December 21, 2013 |
Reindeer, from Northern Europe or Asia, are
often thought of as a domesticated animal, one
that may pull Santa's sled. Caribou, similar in
appearance but living in the wilderness of North
America, are thought of as conducting an untamed
and adventurous life.
However, new research published in the journal
“Nature Climate Change,”
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/index.html,
suggests that there are more similarities about
these two animals than previously thought and
change in climate played a role in their
evolution.
A group of 21 researchers from two continents,
including Marco Musiani of the University of
Calgary, looked closely at the DNA of reindeer
in Scandinavia and Asia as well as tundra and
woodland caribou in North America to find out
more about how their environments were affected
in the past and will be influenced in the future
by climate change
As one of the most northern species, caribou
will feel the effects of global warming, says
Musiani, a professor in the faculties of
Environmental Design and Veterinary Medicine and
co-author of the study.
"The woodland caribou is already an endangered
species in southern Canada and the United
States. The warming of the planet means the
disappearance of their critical habitat in these
regions. Caribou need undisturbed lichen-rich
environments and these types of habitats are
disappearing," said Musiani, noting that the
study projected how the environment will change
by the year 2080.
Woodland caribou, a subspecies of caribou have
thicker, broader antlers than their cousins.
They have deep brown fur in the summer and
nearly white fur in the winter. Woodland caribou
live in the Selkirk Mountains, which span the
northern Idaho panhandle and northeastern
Washington. The animals do wander back and forth
across the U.S.-Canadian border.
The Selkirk population of woodland caribou is
listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered
Species Act because these animals are in danger
of becoming extinct throughout the Selkirk
Mountain range.
A population evaluation conducted last March
indicated there were 27 caribou, including four
calves, active in the U.S. population, roughly
the same number as in 2012.
A petition to delist the U.S. woodland caribou
population is now being considered by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. A decision on that
petition is due early next year, according to
the USFWS’ Susan Burch.
Musiani said the research demonstrates that the
animals are not as different from a genetic
point of view as some might think given the
geographic spread of reindeer and caribou. The
two sister groups occur throughout Europe, Asia
and North America, from Norway to eastern
Canada.
Researchers found that caribou living in North
America, but just south of the continental ice,
became isolated and evolved their unique
characteristics during the last glaciation. At
that point, Europe, Asia and Alaska were
connected by a land bridge; reindeer occurred
there and also evolved separately.
"Then, at meltdown the two groups, reindeer from
the North and caribou from the South, reunited
and interbred in areas previously glaciated such
as the southern Canadian Rockies," says Musiani.
The researchers looked at how the animals were
distributed over 21,000 years as the climate
changed and at present and found that caribou in
Alaska and northern Canada are strikingly
similar to reindeer. More typical North American
caribou occur only in the lowland forested
regions further south.
"Animals more closely related to reindeer occur
in North America, throughout its northern and
western regions, with some transitional zones,
such as the one remarkably placed in the
southern Canadian Rockies," said Musiani. |
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