However, these bears no longer live in these regions. It is believe that this is due to historical hunting and human activity in what would have been the brown bears natural environment. Today only a few populations of brown bears remain in Spain, Italy, the Balkans, and Scandinavia.
This study was conducted by researches from Sweden, Spain, the UK, Germany, and France. It was published in the Molecular Ecology journal. I was surprised that human activity effected the distribution of bears more than the Ice Age did! It's depressing to know that even twenty thousand years ago humans were already having a negative effect on our environment.
That is really cool to see how studying DNA could lead researchers to know why the distribution of bears has been diminishing. I know many people now are trying to really hard to save current bear populations in Alaska, but apparently more needs to be done to save the populations in Spain and other areas as well. Hopefully, more people will realize the need to save such an interesting species of animal.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very similar to a research project i did last year on polar bears. Bears are having fewer places to go and live because the ice caps are melting or their homes are being distroyed. I found this interesting because this mentions mitochondrial DNA. A lot of reasearchers are trying to mate the brown bear and polar bears together to save the two species and create a hybrid. but the article doesn't say on how they are going to improve the enviroment for the brown bears? it seems like they are aware of the situation, but how are they going to improve the living conditions for the brown bears?
ReplyDeleteThis article is very similar to a research project i did last year on polar bears. Bears are having fewer places to go and live because the ice caps are melting or their homes are being distroyed. I found this interesting because this mentions mitochondrial DNA. A lot of reasearchers are trying to mate the brown bear and polar bears together to save the two species and create a hybrid. but the article doesn’t say on how they are going to improve the enviroment for the brown bears? it seems like they are aware of the situation, but how are they going to improve the living conditions for the brown bears?
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show how there is usually more than one cause to an effect. However, it is an example of how humans do need to do their best to help minimize their role as a cause in certain environmental effects.
ReplyDelete