Implications of the Circumpolar Genetic Structure of Polar Bears for Their Conservation in a Rapidly Warming Arctic
Figure 2
Assignment of individual polar bears (S11 Table) from their circumpolar range (19 subpopulations) to regional genetic clusters.
a. structure [43] assignment plot for microsatellite signatures (n = 2,899) of polar bears. Y-axis represents proportional membership each of three most-likely groups identified by program structure (Southern Canada [red dots], Canadian Archipelago [blue dots] and the Polar Basin [yellow dots]). Note, based on subsequent analysis (S2c Fig., S6 Table) we discuss the Polar Basin cluster as two groups: the Eastern Polar Basin Western Polar Basin clusters. Individuals are organized (each represented by a single vertical line) along the X-axis according to subpopulation: East Greenland (EG), Barents Sea (BS); Kara Sea (KS); Laptev Sea (LP); Chukchi Sea (CS); Southern Beaufort Sea (SB); Northern Beaufort Sea (NB); Viscount Melville (VM); M'Clintock Channel (MC); Gulf of Boothia (GB); Lancaster Sound (LS); Norwegian Bay (NW); Kane Basin (KB); Baffin Bay (BB); Davis Strait (DS); Foxe Basin (FB); Western Hudson Bay (WH) and Southern Hudson Bay (SH). Individuals within each subpopulation are arranged according membership to one of the three clusters. b. Geographical locations of (n = 2,650) samples in the three genetic clusters.