Using Genetic Data to Determine the Origin of the Rare Peary Caribou
Postdoctoral researcher at Trent published in the Journal of Biogeography
How does new diversity of plant and animal life develop in nature and how can our understanding of evolution help the protection of wildlife? These are the key underlying questions that a joint study by researchers from Trent University, Environment Canada and Climate Change, Parks Canada, and the Government of Nunavut are working to answer by studying the rare Peary caribou, a deer species that lives in the Canadian High Arctic and that is adapted to the cold climatic conditions.
To assess whether caribou in the Canadian High Arctic are different from other caribou in Canada, and to better understand their evolutionary history, Dr. Cornelya Klütsch, a postdoctoral researcher at Trent, used genetic data to determine the origin of Peary caribou and its evolutionary history.
“Wildlife populations like caribou can only have survived past ice ages in ice-free areas that provided enough food and suitable environmental conditions,” explains Dr. Klütsch. In this new study, Dr. Klütsch and colleagues show that an ice-free area was present for Peary caribou, a large mammal species. The results help to understand the origin and evolution of Peary caribou and may apply to other animal and plant species that live in the Arctic.