Subspecific affinity of black bears in the White River National Wildlife Refuge

The black bear population of the White River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is adjacent to populations of black bear in Louisiana (Urusus americanus l oteolus) which are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species A ct. Wildlife management plans can pose restrictions on bear harvests and ti mber extraction; therefore the management plan for the White River NWR is s ensitive to subspecific classification of its bear population. The objectiv e of this study was to analyze genetic variation in the White River NWR and seven adjacent populations of black bears to assess the subspecific affini ty of the White River NWR population. Here we report the variation at seven microsatellite DNA loci among eight black bear populations. The patterns o f genetic variation gave strong support for distinguishing a southern group of black bears comprised of the White River, Arkansas; Tensas River, Louis iana; Upper Atchafalaya, Louisiana; Lower Atchafalaya, Louisiana; and Alaba ma/Mississippi populations. Phylogenetic analysis of individual variation s uggested that historical black bear introductions into Arkansas and Louisia na affected gene pools of certain southern receiving populations, but did n ot significantly change interpopulation relatedness. Phylogenetic inference s at both the population and individual levels support the hypothesis that the White River NWR population of black bears belongs to the U. a. luteolus subspecies.