2024-03-28T08:58:45Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1043942021-05-24T10:14:54Zcom_10261_13com_10261_8col_10261_266
Pérez, Trinidad
Naves, Javier
Vázquez, José Fernando
Fernández-Gil, Alberto
Seijas, Juanjo
Albornoz, Jesús
Revilla, Eloy
Delibes, M.
Domínguez Andrés, Ana
2014-11-06T07:37:44Z
2014-11-06T07:37:44Z
2014
Wildlife Biology, 20: 300-309 (2014)
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/104394
10.2981/wlb.00069
Th e Cantabrian brown bear Ursus arctos population can be seen as a paradigm in conservation biology due to its endangerment
status and genetic uniqueness. Th erefore, the need to obtain basic demographic data to inform management actions
for conservation is imperative. Despite this, empirical data on the size and trends of the Cantabrian bear population are
scarce. Here we present the fi rst estimates of population size (N c ) and eff ective population size (N e ) of the whole Cantabrian
brown bear population. We genotyped 270 non-invasive samples collected during 2006 throughout the entire range of
the population and subsequently identifi ed 130 individuals. Diff erent model estimators of N c based on capture – mark –
recapture (CMR) procedures were compared. Th e average for the best three models (Mh Chao, Mh Darroch and
CAPWIRE TIRM) yielded a total estimate of N c 223 individuals (CI 95% 183 – 278) and N e 50 (CI 95% 36 – 75)
providing an N e / N c ratio of 0.22. Estimates for the two subpopulations commonly recognized in the Cantabrian range
were N c 203 (CI 95% 168 – 260) and N e 47 (CI 95% 36 – 70) for the western subpopulation and N c 19 (CI 95%
12 – 40) and N e 9 (CI 95% 8 – 12) for the eastern subpopulation. Th ese data suggest that the Cantabrian brown bear
population has increased recently, mainly in the western subpopulation, after a long period of decline and isolation which
lead to the split of the population at the beginning of the 20th century. Population sizes in the early 1990s were thought
to be only 60 individuals for the western subpopulation and 14 individuals in the eastern one. Th e eff orts to improve
conservation policies made since then have probably contributed, to some extent, to the population increase during the
last couple of decades.
eng
openAccess
Estimating the population size of the endangered Cantabrian brown bear through genetic sampling
artículo