Abstract
Highly mobile mammalian carnivores are expected to have the capability to maintain high levels of gene flow across large geographic scales. Nonetheless, surprising levels of genetic structure have been found in many such populations. We combined genetic and spatial behavioural information from wolves (Canis lupus) in the Iberian Peninsula (Western Europe) during the last two decades to present a particular case of low dispersal levels in a large carnivore population persisting in human-dominated landscapes. We found an exceptionally reticulated pattern of cryptic population structure emerging at two hierarchical levels, in which four or eleven meaningful genetic clusters can be recognized, respectively. These clusters were characterized by moderate-high levels of differentiation (average pairwise FST = 0.09–0.19), low levels of admixture and varying degrees of genetic diversity. The number of dispersers identified among the 11 clusters was very low (<4% out of 218 wolves). Spatial information of tracked wolves further confirmed the geographical genetic patterns (only 2 out of 85 collared wolves overlapped with more than one genetic cluster). The high levels of genetic structure in this population may be determined by the recent demographic history of this population, among other factors. The identification of meaningful genetic clusters has implications for the delineation of conservation units and, consequently, on the conservation and management actions for Iberian wolves.
Highlights
The rates at which populations exchange genes is one of the main driving forces determining the scale and magnitude of population genetic differentiation
We explored the genetic structure of the population using the multivariate approach of DAPC43 and the Bayesian clustering analyses of Structure[44] and BAPS45
We investigated the genetic structure of the Iberian wolf population and the patterns of gene flow across identified genetic clusters
Summary
The rates at which populations exchange genes (i.e., gene flow) is one of the main driving forces determining the scale and magnitude of population genetic differentiation. It is expected that high rates of gene flow will lead to reduced spatial genetic structure at small scales, isolation-by-distance patterns can emerge with increasing geographical distances, even in the absence of barriers to dispersal[1]. Discrete and geographically coherent groupings of genetically similar individuals (clusters) have been identified even in the absence of gaps in the local distribution and/or of physical barriers to movement, and often without evident phenotypic distinction[30] (cryptic population structure – CPS) The existence of these cryptic clusters is of great interest in terms of the behavioural and social processes they can reflect, their potential role in ecological and evolutionary processes, and their consequences for conservation and population management. A large part of this population occurs in human-dominated landscapes[37,38,39] and is remarkable for feeding mainly on anthropogenic sources of food in some areas[40,41,42]
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