| 1. |
- Dalén, Love, et al.
(författare)
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Population history and genetic structure of a circumpolar species : the arctic fox
- 2005
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 84:1, s. 79-89
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The circumpolar arctic fox Alopex lagopus thrives in cold climates and has a high migration rate involving long-distance movements. Thus, it differs from many temperate taxa that were subjected to cyclical restriction in glacial refugia during the Ice Ages. We investigated population history and genetic structure through mitochondrial control region variation in 191 arctic foxes from throughout the arctic. Several haplotypes had a Holarctic distribution and no phylogeographical structure was found. Furthermore, there was no difference in haplotype diversity between populations inhabiting previously glaciated and unglaciated regions. This suggests current gene flow among the studied populations, with the exception of those in Iceland, which is surrounded by year-round open water. Arctic foxes have often been separated into two ecotypes: ‘lemming’ and ‘coastal’. An analysis of molecular variance suggested particularly high gene flow among populations of the ‘lemming’ ecotype. This could be explained by their higher migration rate and reduced fitness in migrants between ecotypes. A mismatch analysis indicated a sudden expansion in population size around 118 000 BP, which coincides with the last interglacial. We propose that glacial cycles affected the arctic fox in a way opposite to their effect on temperate species, with interglacials leading to short-term isolation in northern refugia.
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| 2. |
- Dalerum, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of coastal access on isotope variation in Icelandic arctic foxes
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:3, s. e32071-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To quantify the ecological effects of predator populations, it is important to evaluate how population-level specializations are dictated by intra-versus inter-individual dietary variation. Coastal habitats contain prey from the terrestrial biome, the marine biome and prey confined to the coastal region. Such habitats have therefore been suggested to better support predator populations compared to habitats without coastal access. We used stable isotope data on a small generalist predator, the arctic fox, to infer dietary strategies between adult and juvenile individuals with and without coastal access on Iceland. Our results suggest that foxes in coastal habitats exhibited a broader isotope niche breadth compared to foxes in inland habitats. This broader niche was related to a greater diversity of individual strategies rather than to a uniform increase in individual niche breadth or by individuals retaining their specialization but increasing their niche differentiation. Juveniles in coastal habitats exhibited a narrower isotope niche breadth compared to both adults and juveniles in inland habitats, and juveniles in inland habitats inhabited a lower proportion of their total isotope niche compared to adults and juveniles from coastal habitats. Juveniles in both habitats exhibited lower intra-individual variation compared to adults. Based on these results, we suggest that foxes in both habitats were highly selective with respect to the resources they used to feed offspring, but that foxes in coastal habitats preferentially utilized marine resources for this purpose. We stress that coastal habitats should be regarded as high priority areas for conservation of generalist predators as they appear to offer a wide variety of dietary options that allow for greater flexibility in dietary strategies.
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| 3. |
- Elmhagen, Bodil, et al.
(författare)
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From breeding pairs to fox towns : the social organisation of arctic fox populations with stable and fluctuating availability of food
- 2014
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Ingår i: Polar Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0722-4060 .- 1432-2056. ; 37:1, s. 111-122
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food availability can impact group formation in Carnivora. Specifically, it has been suggested that temporal variation in food availability may allow a breeding pair to tolerate additional adults in their territory at times when food abundance is high. We investigate group occurrence and intraspecific tolerance during breeding in a socially flexible canid, the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). We compare Iceland and Sweden where resource conditions differ considerably. A breeding pair was the most common social unit in both populations, but as predicted, groups were more frequent where food abundance varied substantially between years (Sweden: 6 %) than where food availability was stable (Iceland: ≤2 %). Within Sweden, supplemental feeding increased group occurrence from 6 to 21 %, but there was no effect of natural variation in lemming (Lemmus lemmus) availability since group formation was rare also at lemming highs. Thus, additional factors appeared to influence the trade-off between intraspecific territoriality and tolerance. We report two cases where related females showed enduring social relationships with good-neighbour strategies. Related females also engaged in alloparental behaviour in a ‘fox town’ with 31 foxes (4 adults, 3 litters). In contrast, when unrelated foxes bred close to each other, they moved or split their litters during summer, presumably because of territorial conflict. We suggest that fluctuating food availability is linked to group formation in this Arctic carnivore, but also when food availability increases, additional factors such as relatedness, alloparental benefits, competition and predator defence appear necessary to explain group formation.
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| 4. |
- Geffen, Eli, et al.
(författare)
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Sea ice occurrence predicts genetic isolation in the Arctic fox
- 2007
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 16:20, s. 4241-4255
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Unlike Oceanic islands, the islands of the Arctic Sea are not completely isolated from migration by terrestrial vertebrates. The pack ice connects many Arctic Sea islands to the mainland during winter months. The Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), which has a circumpolar distribution, populates numerous islands in the Arctic Sea. In this study, we used genetic data from 20 different populations, spanning the entire distribution of the Arctic fox, to identify barriers to dispersal. Specifically, we considered geographical distance, occurrence of sea ice, winter temperature, ecotype, and the presence of red fox and polar bear as nonexclusive factors that influence the dispersal behaviour of individuals. Using distance-based redundancy analysis and the BIOENV procedure, we showed that occurrence of sea ice is the key predictor and explained 40-60% of the genetic distance among populations. In addition, our analysis identified the Commander and Pribilof Islands Arctic populations as genetically unique suggesting they deserve special attention from a conservation perspective.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Norén, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus population structure : circumpolar patterns and processes
- 2011
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Ingår i: Oikos. - : Wiley. - 0030-1299 .- 1600-0706. ; 120:6, s. 873-885
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Movement is a prominent process shaping genetic population structure. In many northern mammal species, population structure is formed by geographic distance, geographical barriers and various ecological factors that influence movement over the landscape. The Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus is a highly mobile, opportunistic carnivore of the Arctic that occurs in two main ecotypes with different ecological adaptations. We assembled microsatellite data in 7 loci for 1834 Arctic foxes sampled across their entire distribution to describe the circumpolar population structure and test the impact of (1) geographic distance, (2) geographical barriers and (3) ecotype designation on the population structure. Both Structure and Geneland demonstrated distinctiveness of Iceland and Scandinavia whereas low differentiation was observed between North America-northern Greenland, Svalbard and Siberia. Genetic differentiation was significantly correlated to presence of sea ice on a global scale, but not to geographical distance or ecotype designation. However, among areas connected by sea ice, we recorded a pattern of isolation by distance. The maximum likelihood approach in Migrate suggested that connectivity across North America-northern Greenland and Svalbard was particularly high. Our results demonstrate the importance of sea ice for maintaining connectivity between Arctic fox populations and we therefore predict that climate change will increase genetic divergence among populations in the future.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Norén, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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From monogamy to complexity : social organization of arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) in contrasting ecosystems
- 2012
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Ingår i: Canadian Journal of Zoology. - 0008-4301 .- 1480-3283. ; 90:9, s. 1102-1116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Canids display pronounced intraspecific variation in social organization, ranging from single breeding females to large and complex groups. Despite several hypotheses in this matter, little is understood about the ecological factors underlying this flexibility. We have used the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (L., 1758)) to investigate how contrasting ecosystem conditions concerning resources and predation influence group formation. We predicted that complex groups are more common in resource-rich ecosystems with predators, whereas simple groups occur in more marginal ecosystems without predators. Samples from 54 groups were collected from four populations of arctic foxes with contrasting prey resources and predation and these samples were genotyped in 10 microsatellite loci. We found considerable variation between ecosystems and a significant relationship between resources and formation of complex groups. We conclude that sufficient amounts of food is a prerequisite for forming complex groups, but that defense against predation further increases the benefits of living in larger groups. We present a conceptual model suggesting that a trade-off between the cost of resource depletion and the benefits obtained for guarding against predators explain the differences in social organization. The variable ecology of the arctic foxes makes it is a plausible model species for understanding the connection between ecology and social organization also in other species.
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| 9. |
- Norén, Karin, 1980-
(författare)
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Genetic structure in the North- population connectivity and social organization in the Arctic fox
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Genetic variation is distributed on different spatial and temporal scales, reflecting the ecological and geographical complexity in the habitat. In this thesis, the primary objective was to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the genetic structuring in the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) and to identify the underlying factors forming these structures. Using microsatellites, presence of sea ice was identified as the main factor determining the large-scale genetic structure in the Arctic fox. Genetic distinctiveness was demonstrated for populations surrounded by year-round open water (i.e. Iceland and Scandinavia) and among areas connected by sea ice, genetic differentiation was mainly determined by the geographic distance (PAPER I). Movement across the sea ice was influenced by fluctuations in resource abundance caused by the lemming cycle. As a consequence of low lemming abundance, long-distance movement from inland habitats into coastal habitats influenced the genetic structure on a temporal scale (PAPER II). Although the global connectivity was determined by few underlying factors, local population structures were influenced by population-specific historical, demographic and ecological factors (PAPER II, III, IV). Geographical barriers determined genetic structure within the isolated population on Iceland (PAPER III), whereas immigration influenced the local genetic structure in both Svalbard (PAPER II) and Scandinavia (PAPER IV). When population size is low, few immigration events cause rapid changes in genetic composition (PAPER IV), while immigration had a less pronounced effect in larger populations (PAPER II). On the social scale, high flexibility regarding the composition of social groups was recorded as a likely response to local habitat conditions (PAPER V). Complex social groups were more common in habitats with high resource availability and presence of predators than in habitats without predation. This thesis illustrates the importance of ecology and demography forming genetic structure at different scales, and highlights the Arctic fox vulnerability to the ongoing climate change.
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| 10. |
- Norén, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Population structure in an isolated Arctic fox, Vulpes lagopus, population : the impact of geographical barriers
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 97:1, s. 18-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The genetic composition of a population reflects several aspects of the organism and its environment. The Icelandic Arctic fox population exceeds 8000 individuals and is comprised of both coastal and inland foxes. Several factors may affect within-population movement and subsequent genetic population structure. A narrow isthmus and sheep-proof fences may prevent movement between the north-western and central part and glacial rivers may reduce movement between the eastern and central part of Iceland. Moreover, population density and habitat characteristics can influence movement behaviour further. Here, we investigate the genetic structure in the Icelandic Arctic fox population (n = 108) using 10 microsatellite loci. Despite large glacial rivers, we found low divergence between the central and eastern part, suggesting extensive movement between these areas. However, both model- and frequency-based analyses suggest that the north-western part is genetically differentiated from the rest of Iceland (F-ST = 0.04, D-S = 0.094), corresponding to 100-200 generations of complete isolation. This suggests that the fences cannot be the sole cause of divergence. Rather, the isthmus causes limited movement between the regions, implying that protection in the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve has a minimal impact on Arctic fox population size in the rest of Iceland. (C) 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 18-26.
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| 11. |
- Norén, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Pulses of movement across the sea ice: population connectivity and temporal genetic structure in the arctic fox
- 2011
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Ingår i: Oecologia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0029-8549 .- 1432-1939. ; 166:4, s. 973-984
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lemmings are involved in several important functions in the Arctic ecosystem. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) can be divided into two discrete ecotypes: “lemming foxes” and “coastal foxes”. Crashes in lemming abundance can result in pulses of “lemming fox” movement across the Arctic sea ice and immigration into coastal habitats in search for food. These pulses can influence the genetic structure of the receiving population. We have tested the impact of immigration on the genetic structure of the “coastal fox” population in Svalbard by recording microsatellite variation in seven loci for 162 Arctic foxes sampled during the summer and winter over a 5-year period. Genetic heterogeneity and temporal genetic shifts, as inferred by STRUCTURE simulations and deviations from Hardy–Weinberg proportions, respectively, were recorded. Maximum likelihood estimates of movement as well as STRUCTURE simulations suggested that both immigration and genetic mixture are higher in Svalbard than in the neighbouring “lemming fox” populations. The STRUCTURE simulations and AMOVA revealed there are differences in genetic composition of the population between summer and winter seasons, indicating that immigrants are not present in the reproductive portion of the Svalbard population. Based on these results, we conclude that Arctic fox population structure varies with time and is influenced by immigration from neighbouring populations. The lemming cycle is likely an important factor shaping Arctic fox movement across sea ice and the subsequent population genetic structure, but is also likely to influence local adaptation to the coastal habitat and the prevalence of diseases.
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| 12. |
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