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The already-rare Stone's sheep of the Yukon is 20 percent less than previously thought, according to new research by the University of Alberta biologists.
The study examined 123 different DNA markers in approximately 2,800 thinhorn sheep in British Columbia and the Yukon, with the goal of mapping population boundaries. Results show significant overestimation of certain subspecies of thinhorn sheep, like Stone's sheep, due to misclbadification.
"That means that population surveys, which are based on current maps, have been over-counting the number of Stone's sheep in Canada," explained Zijian Sim, Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences. "When correctly clbadified as Dall's sheep, our results show that the rarer subspecies is even rarer than we once thought, about 20 percent less than previously thought."
Part of the problem that is bound by traditional political, cultural, and geographical criteria, which do not necessarily include biological population boundaries.
Mistaken identity
"These populations are boundaries," said Sim, who led this research under the supervision of Professor David Coltman. "Unfortunately, we found that we tend to ignore our political and geographical lines."
The findings have implications for wildlife management and conservation efforts, highlighting the need for inter-jurisdictional planning where thinhorn sheep population straddle political and geographical boundaries, such as provincial borders or mountains. "In fact, our study has already taken place in British Columbia and Yukon for cross-border herds," added Sim.
The study stems from the previous research on the misclbadification of Stone's sheep based on coat color.
Explore further:
Population of rare Stone's sheep 20%
More information:
Zijian Sim et al, Management Implications of highly resolved hierarchical population genetic structure in thinhorn sheep, Conservation Genetics (2018). DOI: 10.1007 / s10592-018-1123-2
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