Coexisting With Humans: Genomic and Behavioral Consequences in a Small and Isolated Bear Population

Climate and land use change have increased human-wildlife interactions, potentially reducing wild species density and prompting behavioral adaptations to urbanized environments. It is still debated if behavioral responses are mainly the result of phenotypic plasticity or if they were driven by anthropic selective pressures, especially in small populations where genetic drift is strong. Our study focused on the small Apennine brown bear population (Ursus arctos marsicanus), which has coexisted with humans in Central Italy for millennia. We characterized genomic diversity and identified adaptation signals distinctive to this population by comparing newly generated and published whole-genome resequencing data from Apennine, Central European, and North American brown bears. Apennine brown bears exhibited reduced genomic diversity, higher inbreeding, and larger realized genetic load compared to other brown bears. We showed that Apennine brown bears possess a unique genomic diversity pattern including selective signatures at genes associated with reduced aggressiveness (eg DCC, SLC13A5). Within these genes, most of the newly discovered variants were located in noncoding regions and some of them were predicted to alter splicing factor binding sites, highlighting the contribution of noncoding variation in shaping complex phenotypes. Our results support the hypothesis that human-induced selection has promoted behavioral changes even in small- and long-isolated populations, reducing conflicts and contributing to the long-term persistence of a large mammal species and its coexistence with humans.

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Publication Details

Journal
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Published
2025-11-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf292
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.72
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article

Coexisting With Humans: Genomic and Behavioral Consequences in a Small and Isolated Bear Population

Maëva Gabrielli, Roberto Biello, Claúdio Ciofi, Emiliano Trucchi et al.
1 citations
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
1.72
article

Coexisting With Humans: Genomic and Behavioral Consequences in a Small and Isolated Bear Population

Maëva Gabrielli, Roberto Biello, Claúdio Ciofi, Emiliano Trucchi, Ladislav Paule, Marco Gerdol, Giulia Fabbri, Giorgio Bertorelle, Dario Balestra, Sibelle Torres Vilaça, Laura Peretto, Andrea Benazzo, Carolyn G. Mahan, Lorena Ancona, Alessio Iannucci, Marco Sollitto, Paolo Ciucci, Patrícia Santos, Silvia Fuselli, Giada Padovani, Beatrice Sammarco
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Climate and land use change have increased human-wildlife interactions, potentially reducing wild species density and prompting behavioral adaptations to urbanized environments. It is still debated if behavioral responses are mainly the result of phenotypic plasticity or if they were driven by anthropic selective pressures, especially in small populations where genetic drift is strong. Our study focused on the small Apennine brown bear population (Ursus arctos marsicanus), which has coexisted with humans in Central Italy for millennia. We characterized genomic diversity and identified adaptation signals distinctive to this population by comparing newly generated and published whole-genome resequencing data from Apennine, Central European, and North American brown bears. Apennine brown bears exhibited reduced genomic diversity, higher inbreeding, and larger realized genetic load compared to other brown bears. We showed that Apennine brown bears possess a unique genomic diversity pattern including selective signatures at genes associated with reduced aggressiveness (eg DCC, SLC13A5). Within these genes, most of the newly discovered variants were located in noncoding regions and some of them were predicted to alter splicing factor binding sites, highlighting the contribution of noncoding variation in shaping complex phenotypes. Our results support the hypothesis that human-induced selection has promoted behavioral changes even in small- and long-isolated populations, reducing conflicts and contributing to the long-term persistence of a large mammal species and its coexistence with humans.

Molecular Biology and EvolutionVol. 42(12)
Marche Polytechnic University (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Pennsylvania State University (US), University of Trieste (IT), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), University of Ferrara (IT), University of Florida (US), Technická univerzita vo Zvolene (SK), Vale Technological Institute (BR), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), University of Florence (IT), Rockefeller University (US), Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
1.72
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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