title: The Arctic: Glacial Refugium or Area of Secondary Contact? Inference from the Population Genetic Structure of the Thick-Billed Murre (Uria lomvia), with Implications for Management.
abstract: Quaternary glaciations affected the distribution of many species. Here, we investigate whether the Arctic represented a glacial refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum or an area of secondary contact following the ice retreat, by analyzing the genetic population structure of the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia), a seabird that breeds throughout the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The thick-billed murre is a species of socio-economic importance and faces numerous threats including hunting, oil pollution, gill netting, and climate change. We compared variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (n = 424), supplemented by 4 microsatellite loci (n = 445), among thick-billed murres sampled throughout their range. MtDNA data indicated that colonies comprise 4 genetically differentiated groups (Φst = 0.11-0.81): 1) Atlantic Ocean plus New Siberian Islands region, 2) Cape Parry, 3) Chukchi Sea, and 4) Pacific Ocean. Microsatellite variation differed between Atlantic and Pacific populations. Otherwise, little substructure was found within either ocean. Atlantic and Pacific populations appear to have been genetically isolated since the last interglacial period and should be considered separate evolutionary significant units for management. The Chukchi Sea and Cape Parry appear to represent areas of secondary contact, rather than arctic refugial populations.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada. anna.tigano@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tigano
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Damus
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada.
authors.forename: Tim P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Birt
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada.
authors.forename: Jamie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Morris-Pocock
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada.
authors.forename: Yuri B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Artukhin
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada (Tigano, Damus, Birt, Morris-Pocock, and Friesen); and the Kamchatka Branch of Pacific Geographical Institute of Far Eastern Branch RAS, Rybakov Prospekt 19a, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683024, Russia (Artukhin). Martin Damus is now at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9, Canada. Morris-Pocock is now at the School of Health Sciences, St. Lawrence College, Brockville, Ontario K6V 5X3, Canada.
authors.forename: Vicki L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Friesen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001110:Arctic Regions; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000235:genetics*; D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D051456:Gene Flow; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008957:Models, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Arctic; Uria lomvia; population genetics; refugium; thick-billed murre