Data from: Natural re-colonization and admixture of wolves (Canis lupus) in the US Pacific Northwest: challenges for the protection and management of rare and endangered taxa ...

• Main Authors: Hendricks, Sarah, Schweizer, Rena, Harrigan, Ryan, Pollinger, John, Brown, Roblyn, Paquet, Paul, Adams, Jennifer, Waits, Lisette, VonHoldt, Bridgett, Hohenlohe, Paul, Wayne, Robert
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2018
• Subjects: Canis lupus; Pacific; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.np7t1p2; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.np7t1p2

Admixture resulting from natural dispersal processes can potentially generate novel phenotypic variation that may facilitate persistence in changing environments or result in the loss of population-specific adaptations. Yet, under the US Endangered Species Act, policy is limited for management of individuals whose ancestry includes a protected taxon; therefore, they are generally not protected under the Act. This issue is exemplified by the recently re-established grey wolves of the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon, USA. This population was likely founded by two phenotypically and genetically distinct wolf ecotypes: Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) forest and coastal rainforest. The latter is considered potentially threatened in southeast Alaska and thus the source of migrants may affect plans for their protection. Genetic analysis revealed that the Washington wolves share ancestry with both wolf ecotypes, whereas the Oregon population shares ancestry with NRM forest wolves only. Using ... : filtered_variantSites_n126_callRate95_minDP10_GQ20Filtered variant call file (vcf format)Neutral regionsNeutral regions (canfam3.1; bed file format)neutralregions_canfam3.1.bed ...