Blackwell Science, LtdMicrosatellite DNA evidence for genetic drift and

Mainland populations of Arctic reindeer and caribou Rangifer tarandus often undergo extensive movements, whereas populations on islands tend to be isolated and sedentary. To characterize the genetic consequences of this difference, levels of genetic diversity and subdivision of Svalbard reindeer ( R...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: S D Côté, J F Dallas, F Marshall, R J Irvine, R Langvatn, S D Albon
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
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Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.549.7661
http://people.cst.cmich.edu/swans1bj/Cote_etal_02.pdf
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Summary:Mainland populations of Arctic reindeer and caribou Rangifer tarandus often undergo extensive movements, whereas populations on islands tend to be isolated and sedentary. To characterize the genetic consequences of this difference, levels of genetic diversity and subdivision of Svalbard reindeer ( R. t. platyrhynchus) from two adjacent areas on Norden-skjiöldland, Spitsbergen were estimated using data from up to 14 microsatellites. The mean number of alleles per locus in Svalbard reindeer was 2.4 and mean expected heterozygosity per locus was 0.36. The latter value was significantly lower than in Canadian caribou and Norwegian reindeer but higher than in some other cervid species. Large samples of females