Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region
Abstract The Balkan Peninsula and the Dinaric Mountains possess extraordinary biodiversity and support one of the largest and most diverse wolf ( Canis lupus ) populations in Europe. Results obtained with diverse genetic markers show west‐east substructure, also seen in various other species, despit...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.8444 |
id |
crwiley:10.1002/ece3.8444 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1002/ece3.8444 2024-06-02T08:05:03+00:00 Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region Šnjegota, Dragana Stronen, Astrid Vik Boljte, Barbara Ćirović, Duško Djan, Mihajla Huber, Djuro Jelenčič, Maja Konec, Marjeta Kusak, Josip Skrbinšek, Tomaž Rufford Foundation European Commission EuroNatur Stiftung 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.8444 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 24, page 18492-18504 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8444 2024-05-03T11:31:10Z Abstract The Balkan Peninsula and the Dinaric Mountains possess extraordinary biodiversity and support one of the largest and most diverse wolf ( Canis lupus ) populations in Europe. Results obtained with diverse genetic markers show west‐east substructure, also seen in various other species, despite the absence of obvious barriers to movement. However, the spatial extent of the genetic clusters remains unresolved, and our aim was to combine fine‐scale sampling with population and spatial genetic analyses to improve resolution of wolf genetic clusters. We analyzed 16 autosomal microsatellites from 255 wolves sampled in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), and Serbia and documented three genetic clusters. These comprised (1) Slovenia and the regions of Gorski kotar and Lika in Croatia, (2) the region of Dalmatia in southern Croatia and BIH, and (3) Serbia. When we mapped the clusters geographically, we observed west‐east genetic structure across the study area, together with some specific structure in BIH–Dalmatia. We observed that cluster 1 had a smaller effective population size, consistent with earlier reports of population recovery since the 1980s. Our results provide foundation for future genomic studies that would further resolve the observed west‐east population structure and its evolutionary history in wolves and other taxa in the region and identify focal areas for habitat conservation. They also have immediate importance for conservation planning for the wolves in one of the most important parts of the species’ European range. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Wiley Online Library Ecology and Evolution 11 24 18492 18504 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The Balkan Peninsula and the Dinaric Mountains possess extraordinary biodiversity and support one of the largest and most diverse wolf ( Canis lupus ) populations in Europe. Results obtained with diverse genetic markers show west‐east substructure, also seen in various other species, despite the absence of obvious barriers to movement. However, the spatial extent of the genetic clusters remains unresolved, and our aim was to combine fine‐scale sampling with population and spatial genetic analyses to improve resolution of wolf genetic clusters. We analyzed 16 autosomal microsatellites from 255 wolves sampled in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), and Serbia and documented three genetic clusters. These comprised (1) Slovenia and the regions of Gorski kotar and Lika in Croatia, (2) the region of Dalmatia in southern Croatia and BIH, and (3) Serbia. When we mapped the clusters geographically, we observed west‐east genetic structure across the study area, together with some specific structure in BIH–Dalmatia. We observed that cluster 1 had a smaller effective population size, consistent with earlier reports of population recovery since the 1980s. Our results provide foundation for future genomic studies that would further resolve the observed west‐east population structure and its evolutionary history in wolves and other taxa in the region and identify focal areas for habitat conservation. They also have immediate importance for conservation planning for the wolves in one of the most important parts of the species’ European range. |
author2 |
Rufford Foundation European Commission EuroNatur Stiftung |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Šnjegota, Dragana Stronen, Astrid Vik Boljte, Barbara Ćirović, Duško Djan, Mihajla Huber, Djuro Jelenčič, Maja Konec, Marjeta Kusak, Josip Skrbinšek, Tomaž |
spellingShingle |
Šnjegota, Dragana Stronen, Astrid Vik Boljte, Barbara Ćirović, Duško Djan, Mihajla Huber, Djuro Jelenčič, Maja Konec, Marjeta Kusak, Josip Skrbinšek, Tomaž Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
author_facet |
Šnjegota, Dragana Stronen, Astrid Vik Boljte, Barbara Ćirović, Duško Djan, Mihajla Huber, Djuro Jelenčič, Maja Konec, Marjeta Kusak, Josip Skrbinšek, Tomaž |
author_sort |
Šnjegota, Dragana |
title |
Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
title_short |
Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
title_full |
Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
title_fullStr |
Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern Dinaric‐Balkan region |
title_sort |
population genetic structure of wolves in the northwestern dinaric‐balkan region |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.8444 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.8444 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 11, issue 24, page 18492-18504 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8444 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
18492 |
op_container_end_page |
18504 |
_version_ |
1800749801020588032 |