Population Structure and Genetic Diversity of Eastern North American Moose

Hair samples were collected in discrete areas during radio-collar studies in Vermont under the auspices of University of Vermont IACUC protocol #17-035 (n=106), New Hampshire (n=34), and Maine (n=57). Hair and tissue samples were opportunistically collected from animals that were harvested, died in vehicle collisions, or translocated throughout Vermont (n = 105), Quebec (n = 198), Massachusetts (n = 5), and New York (n = 24). Of the 317 previously identified autosomal moose SNPs, 136 loci were utilized to develop a MALDI-TOF MS genotyping assay. After filtering problematic loci and individuals, genotypes from 112 of 136 SNPs (82%) were obtained for 507 individuals and all loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations in the nine geographic regions samples.