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Journal of Heredity Advance Access published online on October 3, 2008
Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esn076
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© The American Genetic Association. 2008. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Population Structure and Genetic Diversity of Moose in Alaska

Jennifer I. Schmidt, Kris J. Hundertmark, R. Terry Bowyer, and Kevin G. McCracken

From the Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 902 N. Koyukuk Dr, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7000 (Schmidt, Hundertmark, and McCracken); the Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 211 Irving Building 1, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6100 (Schmidt, Hundertmark, and McCracken); and the Department of Biological Sciences, 921 South 8th Avenue, Stop 8007, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209-8007 (Bowyer)

Address correspondence to J. I. Schmidt at the address above, or e-mail: fsjis{at}uaf.edu.

Moose (Alces alces) are highly mobile mammals that occur across arboreal regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas) range across much of Alaska and are primary herbivore consumers, exerting a prominent influence on ecosystem structure and functioning. Increased knowledge gained from population genetics provides insights into their population dynamics, history, and dispersal of these unique large herbivores and can aid in conservation efforts. We examined the genetic diversity and population structure of moose (n = 141) with 8 polymorphic microsatellites from 6 regions spanning much of Alaska. Expected heterozygosity was moderate (HE = 0.483–0.612), and private alleles ranged from 0 to 6. Both FST and RST indicated significant population structure (P < 0.001) with FST < 0.109 and RST < 0.125. Results of analyses from STRUCTURE indicated 2 prominent population groups, a mix of moose from the Yakutat and Tetlin regions versus all other moose, with slight substructure observed among the second population. Estimates of dispersal differed between analytical approaches, indicating a high level of historical or current gene flow. Mantel tests indicated that isolation-by-distance partially explained observed structure among moose populations (R2 = 0.45, P < 0.01). Finally, there was no evidence of bottlenecks either at the population level or overall. We conclude that weak population structure occurs among moose in Alaska with population expansion from interior Alaska westward toward the coast.

Corresponding Editor: Ernest Bailey

Received April 7, 2008
Revised July 30, 2008
Accepted August 26, 2008


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