Arctic foxes. Photo courtesy Yvonne Cox.
Study shows impacts to Arcit fox populations
By Summit Voice
FRISCO â€" It’s very likely that human-caused global warming will disrupt the natural cycles of glaciation that have prevailed in recent millennia, and that could spell trouble for species that have relied on bridges of sea ice to maintain genetic diversity.
That includes Arctic foxes that were able to colonize Iceland during the Little Ice, according to research by scientists at the UK’s Durham University, who said that Arctic foxes were able to migrate to Iceland from Russia, North America and Greenland when such a bridge formed, between 200 and 500 years ago.
Iceland’s population of about 10,000 arctic foxes is not at risk, the researchers said, but explained that increasing isolation from the rest of the Arctic, caused by warmer temperatures and a lack of sea ice, could further differentiate the island’s population from their mainland relatives.
“During the Little Ice Age there was a great deal more sea ice in the North Atlantic than there is today and during the late 18th and 19th centuries sea ice routinely grounded on Iceland,†said Dr, Greger, Larson, of Durham University’s Department of Archaeology.
“Even today arctic foxes routinely travel hundreds of miles across sea ice and once the ice bridge was in place, they easily crossed the North Atlantic and were able to arrive on Iceland, increasing the genetic diversity of the population,†Larson said.
The multi-disciplinary approach used for this project could also be used to track the migration of other animals found on remote islands, the researchers said.
Ancient arctic foxes also crossed sea ice during previous ice ages to reach Iceland well before human settlement in the 9th Century. Warmer temperatures then melted the sea ice and isolated the ancient foxes on the island before the Little Ice Age reconnected Iceland to the mainland.
The Little Ice Age saw temperatures plummet in the 16th to 19th Centuries across large parts of Europe and North America in particular, and rivers such as the Thames were frequently frozen enough to support ice skating and winter festivals.
The researchers analysed DNA samples from ancient remains of Icelandic arctic foxes dating from two late 9th to 12th Century archaeological sites and compared the findings to DNA data from their modern successors.
They found that the ancient foxes shared a single genetic signature, while the modern population possesses five unique signatures.
The researchers were able to rule out different explanations for the increase in the amount of variation of the ancient foxes, including geographic reasons and breeding between farmed and wild arctic foxes.
The team concluded that the most likely explanation for the boom in genetic diversity among arctic foxes was migration across sea ice that formed during the Little Ice Age.Larson said the potential for animal migration decreased significantly during the 20th Century, a trend which global warming had accelerated.
“Without the sea ice, there will be no new fox migrants and thus the Icelandic population will continue to diverge from their mainland relatives,†he said.
Dr Larson added that the model the research used to determine the genetic diversity of the arctic fox could also be used to track the historical migration of other animals such as reindeer that are also found on Iceland.
The research, partly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B â€" Biological Sciences.
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Filed under: biodiversity, climate and weather, Environment, global warming Tagged: | Arctic, Arctic fox, climate, global warming, Iceland, Little Ice Age, Natural Environment Research Council, Sea ice
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