Collaborative Research: PACSP: Looking back to move forward - integrating genomics into long-term diversity monitoring of grizzly bears

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) have undergone rapid population declines over the last 150 years in the lower 48 states. This project will use DNA sequencing technologies to investigate the effects of this rapid population decline as well as the effects of previous conservation management actions. The researchers will investigate the utility of these genetic technologies for population monitoring and management. New genetic tools will be developed to rapidly sequence and identify individual brown bears in the lower 48 states using non-invasive samples. Samples from both historical (museum) and contemporary populations will be used to better understand the impact of population decline and conservation management efforts on the health of brown bear populations. The project will yield new insights into how small populations of animals can persist and will include a database with applications for general population monitoring and human-wildlife conflict scenarios. This project will also establish a brown bear genetic database and provide training opportunities in genetic and genomic technologies to conservation managers. Genomics is poised to be a potentially useful and cost-effective tool for population monitoring and management, however, the limitations of population genetic estimates for conservation purposes are not well understood. This project will use an extensive set of historic and modern brown bear (Ursus arctos) samples to characterize genomic diversity over the last 200 years, how it has changed over time and whether management decisions (e.g., translocations) have impacted the genomic landscape of the species. Brown bears in the lower 48 have been extensively monitored since approximately 1975. The life history data collected by conservation partners over the past several decades, paired with newly collected genomic data, will be used to analyze the impact of past translocations and population bottlenecks in the lower 48. Relating population genetic statistics to life history traits, such as fecundity, lifespan, and independent population size estimates, will help to better implement recommendations to maintain genetic health for species of conservation concern. This project is jointly funded by the Division of Environmental Biology and Integrative Organismal Systems through the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice Program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.