Data for: Harvest and decimation affect genetic drift and the effective population size in wild reindeer ...

• Main Authors: Kvalnes, Thomas, Flagstad, Øystein, Våge, Jørn, Strand, Olav, Viljugrein, Hildegunn, Sæther, Bernt-Erik
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2024
• Subjects: bottleneck; hunting; matrix population model; Population dynamics; Rangifer tarandus; vital rates
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10817123; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10817123

Harvesting and culling are methods used to monitor and manage wildlife diseases. An important consequence of these practices is a change in the genetic dynamics of affected populations that may threaten their long-term viability. The effective population size (Ne) is a fundamental parameter for describing such changes as it determines the amount of genetic drift in a population. Here, we estimate Ne of a harvested wild reindeer population in Norway. Then we use simulations to investigate the genetic consequences of management efforts for handling a recent spread of chronic wasting disease, including increased adult male harvest and population decimation. The Ne/N ratio in this population was found to be 0.124 at the end of the study period, compared to 0.239 in the preceding 14-year period. The difference was caused by increased harvest rates with a high proportion of adult males (older than 2.5 years) being shot (15.2 % in 2005-2018 and 44.8 % in 2021). Increased harvest rates decreased Ne in the ... : Funding provided by: Norwegian Environment AgencyCrossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/023jta124Award Number: Funding provided by: The Research Council of NorwayCrossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00epmv149Award Number: 223257 ...