Landscape genetic analyses of wildlife populations can exclude variation in a broad suite of potential spatiotemporal correlates, including consideration of how such variation might have similarly influenced people over time. Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) populations in what is now known as coastal British Columbia, Canada, provide an opportunity to examine the possible effects of a complex set of landscape and human influences on genetic structure. In this collaboration among the Nuxalk, Haíɫzaqv, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Gitga’at, and Wuikinuxv First Nations and conservation scientists, we characterized patterns of genetic differentiation in the grizzly bear, a species of high cultural value, by genotyping 22 microsatellite loci from noninvasively collected hair samples over a 23,500 km² area. We identified three well-differentiated groups. Resistance surfaces, which incorporated past and present human use, settlement, and landscape resistant features, could not explain this pattern of genetic variation. Notably, however, we detected spatial alignment between Indigenous language families and grizzly bear genetic groups. Grizzly bears sampled within an area represented by a given language family were significantly similar to those sampled within that language family (P = 0.001) and significantly divergent to those sampled outside the language family (P = 0.001). This spatial co-occurrence suggests that grizzly bear and human groups have been shaped by the landscape in similar ways, creating a convergence of grizzly bear genetic and human linguistic diversity. Additionally, grizzly bear management units designated by the provincial government currently divide an otherwise continuous group and exclude recently colonized island populations that are genetically continuous with adjacent mainland groups. This work provides not only insight into how ecological and geographic conditions can similarly shape the distribution of people and wildlife but also new genetic evidence to support renewed, locally led management of grizzly bears into the future.

中文翻译：

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加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省沿海灰熊种群遗传结构与土著语言群的融合地理模式

野生动物种群的景观遗传分析可以排除一系列潜在时空相关性的变异，包括考虑随着时间的推移，这种变异可能如何对人类产生类似的影响。位于加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省沿海地区的灰熊 (Ursus arctos) 种群为研究一组复杂的景观和人类影响对遗传结构的可能影响提供了机会。在 Nuxalk、Haíɫzaqv、Kitasoo/Xai'xais、Gitga'at 和 Wuikinuxv 原住民和保护科学家之间的这项合作中，我们通过对 22 个微卫星位点进行基因分型来表征具有高文化价值的灰熊的遗传分化模式来自 23,500 平方公里区域内无创收集的头发样本。我们确定了三个分化良好的群体。抗性表面结合了过去和现在的人类使用、定居和景观抗性特征，无法解释这种遗传变异模式。然而，值得注意的是，我们检测到土著语言家族和灰熊遗传群体之间的空间对齐。在给定语族代表的区域内采样的灰熊与该语族内采样的灰熊显着相似 (P = 0.001)，而与语族外采样的灰熊显着不同 (P = 0.001)。这种空间共存表明，灰熊和人类群体以相似的方式受到景观的塑造，从而形成了灰熊遗传和人类语言多样性的融合。此外，省政府指定的灰熊管理单位目前划分了一个原本连续的群体，并排除了与邻近大陆群体在基因上连续的新殖民岛屿种群。这项工作不仅提供了对生态和地理条件如何同样影响人类和野生动物分布的洞察，而且提供了新的遗传证据，以支持未来对灰熊进行更新的、由当地主导的管理。