Supplementary material from "Genetic rescue in an inbred Arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus ) population"

• Main Authors: Hasselgren, Malin, Angerbjörn, Anders, Eide, Nina E., Erlandsson, Rasmus, Flagstad, Øystein, Landa, Arild, Wallén, Johan, Norén, Karin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Figshare 2018
• Subjects: Genetics; FOS Biological sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Ecology; Arctic; Arctic Fox; Vulpes lagopus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4028188.v1; https://figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Genetic_rescue_in_an_inbred_Arctic_fox_i_Vulpes_lagopus_i_population_/4028188/1

Isolation of small populations can reduce fitness through inbreeding depression and impede population growth. Outcrossing with only a few unrelated individuals can increase demographic and genetic viability substantially, but few studies have documented such genetic rescue in natural mammal populations. We investigate the effects of immigration in a subpopulation of the endangered Scandinavian arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus ), founded by six individuals and isolated for 9 years at an extremely small population size. Based on a long-term pedigree (105 litters, 543 individuals) combined with individual fitness traits, we found evidence for genetic rescue. Natural immigration and gene flow of three outbred males in 2010 resulted in a reduction in population average inbreeding coefficient ( f ), from 0.14 to 0.08 within 5 years. Genetic rescue was further supported by 1.9 times higher juvenile survival and 1.3 times higher breeding success in immigrant first-generation offspring compared with inbred offspring. Five years after immigration, the population had almost doubled in size and allelic richness increased by 37%. This is one of few studies that has documented genetic rescue in a natural mammal population suffering from inbreeding depression and contributes to a growing body of data demonstrating the vital connection between genetics and individual fitness.