Research Task: RB00CN7.8.0
Task Manager: Sara Oyler-McCance
Investigation into the interaction between ecological and evolutionary responses to global change is an important aspect of climate change studies. An understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypes under selection allows for the prediction and mitigation of climate change effects on the viability of populations. To address this issue, USGS scientists are documenting changes in genetic diversity and allele frequencies in white-tailed ptarmigan from Mt. Evans, Colo., over a 40-year time span. They also are comparing current levels of diversity and patterns of allele frequencies within a northern population of the species on Vancouver Island, Canada. Further, they are attempting to identify genetic markers under selection and to determine whether these markers can be correlated with environmental changes associated with climate change. This study will employ genetics, stable isotope analysis, and traditional population demographics methodologies. This work is novel in that (1) investigators are probing climate change-related effects on an alpine species; (2) 40+ years of demographic data interspersed with tissue samples that further extend to the late 1930s are available; and (3) analyses are focused on identifying genes under selection, then merging demographic and genetic data with stable-isotope-inferred resource use to tell a comprehensive story about white-tailed ptarmigan population ecology in a changing alpine habitat.
For more information contact Sara Oyler-McCance
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Research/research_tasks.asp
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