Microsatellite analysis of North American pine marten ( Martes americana ) populations from the Yukon and Northwest Territories

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Kyle, C J, Davis, C S, Strobeck, C
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2000
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Yukon; Northwest Territories; Martes americana
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z00-050; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z00-050

Elucidating the population genetic structure of a species gives us insight into the levels of gene flow between geographic regions. Such data may have important implications for those trying to manage a heavily harvested wildlife species by determining the genetic connectivity of adjacent populations. In this study, the population structure of 12 North American pine marten (Martes americana) populations from the Yukon through to the central Northwest Territories was investigated using 11 microsatellite loci. Genetic variation within populations across the entire geographic range was relatively homogeneous as measured by: mean number of alleles (5.89 ± 0.45) and the average unbiased expected heterozygosity (H e ) (65.6 ± 1.7%). The overall unbiased probability of identity showed more variance between populations (1/10.25 ± 7.84 billion) than did the mean number of alleles and the H e estimates. Although some population structure was found among the populations, most regions were not strongly differentiated from one another. The low level of structure among the populations can, in part, be attributed to isolation by distance rather than to population fragmentation, as would be expected in more southerly regions in which suitable habitat is more disjunct. Furthermore, the low levels of population genetic structure were likely due to high levels of gene flow between regions and to large effective marten populations in the northern part of their distribution.