Conservation Genetics 4: 179–188, 2003. © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 179 Genetic structure of European pine martens (Martes martes), and evidence for introgression with M. americana in England

• Main Authors: C. J. Kyle, A. Davison, C. Strobeck
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.516.7157; http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~plzad/kyle.pdf

European pine martens (Martes martes) were once distributed across much of western Europe. A combination of factors, such as persecution, trapping, and habitat loss have led to sharp declines in the species ’ numbers and range and, as such, local populations have become more vulnerable to extinction. To evaluate the influence of these factors on both the level of genetic variation and population structure, we genotyped pine martens from across much of their current distribution. Continental M. martes populations were found to have a higher level of genetic structure and lower genetic variation than their North American sibling species, M. americana, sampled throughout Canada. The differences among mainland populations of these species may lie in greater levels of habitat fragmentation and persecution experienced by European martens, though it is difficult to exclude more ancient processes such as the influence of glaciations. Among island populations of the two species, the Scottish population revealed a similar level of structure and variation to the M. a. atrata population of Newfoundland, however Ireland was more differentiated with less genetic variation. Our work using microsatellites also extends previous mtDNA evidence for the presence of M. americana haplotypes in England, raising the possibility of hybridization with M. martes. These findings may influence current discussions on the status of English martens and the appropriateness of proposed re-introductions by revealing that some indigenous martens persist in England, despite the presence of