Intrapopulation foraging niche variation between phenotypes and genotypes of Spirit bear populations.

ABSTRACT: Foraging niche variation within a species can contribute to the maintenance of phenotypic diversity. The multiniche model posits that phenotypes occupying different niches can contribute to the maintenance of balanced polymorphisms. Using coastal populations of black bears (Ursus americanus kermodei) from British Columbia, Canada, we examined potential foraging niche divergence between phenotypes (black and white "Spirit" coat color) and between genotypes (black-coated homozygote and heterozygous). We applied the Bayesian multivariate models, with biotracers of diet (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) together comprising the response variable, to draw inference about foraging niche variation. Variance-covariance matrices from multivariate linear mixed-effect models were visualized

SUBMITTER: Service CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8131816 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature