Byron V Weckworth

University of Montana | UMT

The role of Beringia as a refugium and route for trans-continental exchange of fauna during glacial cycles of the past 2million years are well documented; less apparent is its contribution as a significant reservoir of genetic diversity. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences and 14 microsatellite loci, we investigate the phylogeographic history of cari...

Landscape genetics provides a framework for pinpointing environmental features that determine the important exchange of migrants among populations. These studies usually test the significance of environmental variables on gene flow, yet ignore one fundamental driver of genetic variation in small populations, effective population size, Ne. We combin...

Delineating conservation units is a fundamental step in recovery planning for endangered species. Yet, challenges remain in the application and validation of scientifically evaluated conservation units in management practice. The Canadian government makes use of Designatable Units (DUs) as the primary conservation unit under their Species‐at‐Risk A...

Spatial responses to risk from multiple predators can precipitate emergent consequences for prey (i.e. multiple‐predator effects, MPEs) and mediate indirect interactions between predators. How prey navigate risk from multiple predators may therefore have important ramifications for understanding the propagation of predation‐risk effects (PREs) thro...

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) inhabit the mountainous regions of High Asia, which experienced serial glacial contraction and expansion during climatic cycles of the Pleistocene. The corresponding impacts of glacial vicariance may have alternately promoted or constrained genetic differentiation to shape the distribution of genetic lineages and popu...

Physical and genetic isolation are recognized as significant threats to wildlife, especially in large carnivores inhabiting fragmented landscapes. We conducted an initial genetic assessment of pumas (Puma concolor) using 19 microsatellite loci for the emblematic puma population in the Torres del Paine UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in southernmost Chile,...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is used for biodiversity assessments in a variety of ecosystems across the globe, whereby different eDNA concentration, preservation and extraction methods can outperform others depending on the sampling conditions and environment. Tropical and subtropical ecosystems in Africa are among the less studied systems concerning e...

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) serve as an umbrella species whose conservation benefits their high-elevation Asian habitat. Their numbers are believed to be in decline due to numerous Anthropogenic threats; however, their conservation is hindered by numerous knowledge gaps. They are the least studied genetically of all big cat species and little is...

Snow leopards lag far behind in the volume and advancement of genetic-based research, often because direct observation is difficult due to their rugged, remote distribution, their elusive nature, and low densities. Molecular tools can reveal several population characteristics, including population trends, impacts of landscape change, diet, demograp...

China holds more snow leopards than any other country, possibly over half the global population. The unprecedented rate of socioeconomic change in China over the past 20 years places unique pressures on wildlife and ecosystems within its borders. Of the large predators in China, the snow leopard has arguably suffered least as a consequence of these...

The Kyrgyz Republic is a mountainous with 94% of the country being above 1000 m and 41% above 3000 m. Snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan inhabit about 89,000 km2 and may number 300–350 individuals. Threats include poaching for skins and body parts, poaching and excess hunting of prey, and habitat fragmentation. While legal protection may have reduced trap...

Knowledge of large carnivore population abundance is essential for wildlife management and conservation, but these data are often difficult to obtain in inherently low‐density species. In particular, the snow leopard, Panthera uncia, an enigmatic cat occupying remote mountains in Central Asia, has received insufficient assessments of its population...

Animal-borne tracking devices have generated a wealth of new knowledge, allowing us to better understand, manage and conserve species. Fitting such tracking devices requires that animals are captured and often chemically immobilized. Such procedures cause stress and involve the risk of injuries and loss of life even in healthy individuals. For tele...

Economic incentives to simultaneously address poverty and biodiversity loss may fail if they do not align with local values or norms. Grazing livestock across the Tibetan Plateau's vast but fragile grasslands is often characterized as the area's primary driver of habitat degradation. China's grassland restoration policy provides eco-compensation su...

There is an increasing emphasis in conservation strategies for large carnivores on facilitating their coexistence with humans. Justification for coexistence strategies should be based on a quantitative assessment of currently remaining large carnivores in human‐dominated landscapes. An essential part of a carnivore's coexistence strategy has to rel...

The dhole (Cuon alpinus), also called the Asiatic wild dog, red dog, red wolf, or whistling dog, is a habitat generalist carnivore distributed across most parts of South, East, and Southeast Asia (Zhang and Chen 2011). Widespread across North America, Europe, and Asia until the late Pleisto-cene Epoch, this globally endangered carnivore’s range is...

Patterns of spatial genetic variation can be generated by a variety of ecological processes, including individual preferences based on habitat. These ecological processes act at multiple spatial and temporal scales, generating scale-dependent effects on gene flow. In this study, we focused on bobcats ( Lynx rufus ), a highly mobile, generalist feli...

Conservation geneticists apply genetic theory and techniques to preserve endangered species as dynamic entities, capable of coping with environmental change and thus minimizing their risk of extinction. Snow leopards are an umbrella species of High Asia, and a keystone for maintaining biodiversity within this fragile ecosystem. A clear understandin...

Application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to DNA metabarcoding can greatly increase the understanding of predator–prey dynamics and the conflict between wildlife and humans, but remains underutilized for carnivores such as the threatened snow leopard (Panthera uncia). To date, this technique was hindered by the difficulty in discerning closel...

Significant knowledge gaps persist on snow leopard demography and reproductive behavior. From a GPS-collared population in Mongolia, we estimated the timing of mating, parturition and independence. Based on three mother-cub pairs, we describe the separation phase of the cub from its mother as it gains independence. Snow leopards mated from January-...

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are an enigmatic, high-altitude species whose challenging habitat, low population densities and patchy distribution have presented challenges for scientists studying its biology, population structure, and genetics. Molecular scatology brings a new hope for conservation efforts by providing valuable insights about snow...

Subspecies designations within temperate species' ranges often reflect populations that were isolated by past continental glaciation, and glacial vicariance is believed to be a primary mechanism behind the diversification of several subspecies of North American cervids. We used genetics and the fossil record to study the phylogeography of three moo...

Aim: We explore the phylogeography of Himalayan wolves using multiple genetic markers applied on a landscape-scale dataset and relate our findings to the biogeographic history of the region. Location: Himalayas of Nepal, the Tibetan Plateau of China and mountain ranges of Central Asia. Taxon: Himalayan wolf (also called the Tibetan wolf), Canis...

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an apex predator on the Tibetan Plateau and in the surrounding mountain ranges. It is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN's Red List. The large home range and low population densities of this species mandate range-wide conservation prioritization. Two efforts for range-wide snow leopard conservation planning have b...

Satellite telemetry is an increasingly utilized technology in wildlife research, and current devices can track individual animal movements at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. However, as we enter the golden age of satellite telemetry, we need an in-depth understanding of the main technological, species-specific and environmental fact...

R-code for boosted beta regression (Fix acquisition rate). (R)

Covariate partial effects on the variability of the fix acquisition rate. (PDF)

Tagged individuals per species. (PDF)

Covariate partial effects on the variability of the Overall fix success rate. (PDF)

Trends in observed data. (PDF)

Global dataset for boosted beta regressions. (CSV)

Description of data fields in S1 Data. (CSV)

Satellite telemetry articles published. (PDF)

Distribution of response variables and covariates. (PDF)

Unit purchase and operation costs. (PDF)

R-code for boosted beta regression (Overall fix success rate). (R)

Standardized data collection questionnaire. (PDF)

Satellite telemetry evaluations. (PDF)

Selection forces that favour different phenotypes in different environments can change frequencies of genes between populations along environmental clines. Clines are also compatible with balancing forces, such as negative frequency‐dependent selection (NFDS), which maintains phenotypic polymorphisms within populations. For example, NFDS is hypothe...

Ecosystem fragmentation and habitat loss have been the focus of landscape management due to restrictions on contemporary connectivity and dispersal of populations. Here, we used an individual approach to determine the drivers of genetic differentiation in caribou of the Canadian Rockies. We modelled the effects of isolation by distance, landscape r...

Snow Leopards: Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes is the only comprehensive work on the biology, behavior, and conservation status of the snow leopard, a species that has long been one of the least studied, and hence poorly understood, of the large cats. Breakthroughs in technologies and methodologies to study this elu...

Snow Leopards: Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes is the only comprehensive work on the biology, behavior, and conservation status of the snow leopard, a species that has long been one of the least studied, and hence poorly understood, of the large cats. Breakthroughs in technologies and methodologies to study this elu...

In Qinghai, China, on the Tibetan Plateau, is the Sanjiangyuan, or "Three Rivers Region." As the headwaters of three of the world's greatest rivers, it provides water to more than a billion people downstream, and at the source it includes some of the best snow leopard habitat in China. China is vital for the long-term persistence of this species ac...

From the Panthera, New York, NY 10018 (Weckworth); the College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 (Dawson); the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK 99508 (Talbot); and the Biology Department and Museum of Southwestern Biology, MSC03 2020, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-00...

Climate-driven range fluctuations during the Pleistocene have continuously reshaped species distribution leading to populations of contrasting genetic diversity. Contemporary climate change is similarly influencing species distribution and population structure, with important consequences for patterns of genetic diversity and species’ evolutionary...

In recent months our conservation and research consortium, made up of the Chinese NGO Shan Shui, Peking University, and international NGOs, Panthera and Snow Leopard Trust, has published manuscripts in Biological Conservation (Li et al. 2013a) and Conservation Biology (Li et al. 2013b) that detail the results of our studies on human-snow leopard co...

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects free-ranging and captive North American cervids. Although the impacts of CWD on cervid survival have been documented, little is known about the disease impacts on reproduction and recruitment. We used genetic methods and harvest data (2002-04) to reconstr...

As the scale and intensity of human-mediated impacts on the planet reaches unprecedented levels, there is a need for evaluating and describing the repercussions of these changes on the planet‘s flora and fauna. Woodland caribou are a threatened species that exemplify the challenge of protecting widespread, large species with expansive habitat requi...

Sample accession numbers. Description of Canis lupus GenBank mitochondrial DNA sequences and the location of original tissue sample if known. Listed by original publication are populations (abbreviations as given in text), GenBank accession numbers and when available, in corresponding order, the voucher number from either University of Alaska Museu...

Many coastal species occupying the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest in North America comprise endemic populations genetically and ecologically distinct from interior continental conspecifics. Morphological variation previously identified among wolf populations resulted in recognition of multiple subspecies of wolves in the Pacific Nor...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are exhibiting population declines across their holarctic range. These declines may be particularly consistent at the southern range periphery, where potential factors of concern include climate change, human‐caused habitat loss, and wolf (Canis lupus)‐ mediated apparent competition with more abundant...

1. Social organization and interactions among individuals are suspected to play important roles in the transmission and potential management of wildlife diseases. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate sociality in wildlife disease transmission. We evaluated the hypothesis of socially facilitated transmission of chronic wasting diseas...

Glacial cycles in the late Pleistocene played a dominant role in sculpting the evolutionary histories of many high-latitude organisms. The refugial hypothesis argues that populations retracted during glacial maxima and were isolated in separate refugia. One prediction of this hypothesis is that populations inhabiting different refugia diverged and...

Background/Question/Methods Partial migration behavior is common across taxa despite evolutionary logic that differential demographic consequences could fix for particular strategies in each system. Woodland caribou in the Canadian Rockies exhibit genetic evidence of mixed lineages of diverged Beringian-Eurasian migratory caribou and North America...

Background/Question/Methods In North America, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) experienced diversification in separate refugia before the last glacial maximum. Geographical isolation produced the barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) with its distinctive migratory habits, and the woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), which has...

In North America, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) experienced diversification in separate refugia before the last glacial maximum. Geographical isolation produced the barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) with its distinctive migratory habits, and the woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), which has sedentary behaviour and is n...

Predicting the spread of wildlife disease is critical for identifying populations at risk, targeting surveillance and designing proactive management programmes. We used a landscape genetics approach to identify landscape features that influenced gene flow and the distribution of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Wisconsin white-tailed deer. CWD prev...