Abstract
Understanding the dynamics of wolf-dog hybridization and delineating evidence-based conservation strategies requires information on the spatial extent of wolf-dog hybridization in real-time, which remains largely unknown. We collected 332 wolf-like scats over ca. 5,000km2 in the NW Iberian Peninsula to evaluate wolf-dog hybridization at population level in a single breeding/pup-rearing season. Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) and 18 ancestry informative markers were used for species and individual identification, and to detect wolf-dog hybrids. Genetic relatedness was assessed between hybrids and wolves. We identified 130 genotypes, including 67 wolves and 7 hybrids. Three of the hybrids were backcrosses to dog whereas the others were backcrosses to wolf, the latter accounting for a 5.6% rate of introgression into the wolf population. Our results show a previously undocumented scenario of multiple and widespread wolf-dog hybridization events at the population level. However, there is a clear maintenance of wolf genetic identity, as evidenced by the sharp genetic identification of pure individuals, suggesting the resilience of wolf populations to a small amount of hybridization. We consider that real-time population level assessments of hybridization provide a new perspective into the debate on wolf conservation, with particular focus on current management guidelines applied in wolf-dog hybridization events.
Highlights
Hybridization between wild species and their domestic forms is widely perceived as a biodiversity threat
Using Non-invasive samples (NIS) to detect hybridization is more appealing since recent studies have shown that a selection of a small number of ancestry informative markers (AIMs) is as efficient as a larger dataset of markers not selected based on their discriminatory power[22,23]
Four replicates of the remaining 181 samples were genotyped for the 18 AIMs
Summary
Hybridization between wild species and their domestic forms is widely perceived as a biodiversity threat. Non-invasive samples (NIS) overcome some constraints related to opportunistic sampling, but their effective use in wolf-dog hybridization studies has been so far limited by the high genetic similarity between these two entities. In such cases, a large number of molecular markers is needed to achieve accurate results[19,20], but DNA www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Monitoring these parameters properly is a way to better understand the dynamics of wolf-dog hybridization or to detect alarming situations, but could help to define possible thresholds for interventions, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness[23]
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