Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus
A population of grey wolves Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 inhabiting Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) on the Polish-Belarussian border has recovered after near extermination in the 1970s. Currently, it is intensively hunted in the Belarussian part of BPF and protected in the Polish part. We used a comb...
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Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Zakładu Badania Ssaków (Polish Academy of Sciences, Mammal Research Institute) / Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
2005
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ftulincoln:oai:eprints.lincoln.ac.uk:9444 2023-05-15T15:49:58+02:00 Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus Jedrzejewski, W. Branicki, W. Veit, C. Medugorac, I. Pilot, Malgorzata Bunevich, A. N. Jedrzejewska, B. Schmidt, K. Theuerkauf, J. Okarm, H. Gula, R. Szymura, L. Forster, M. 2005 https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/9444/ unknown Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Zakładu Badania Ssaków (Polish Academy of Sciences, Mammal Research Institute) / Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Jedrzejewski, W., Branicki, W., Veit, C., Medugorac, I., Pilot, Malgorzata, Bunevich, A. N., Jedrzejewska, B., Schmidt, K., Theuerkauf, J., Okarm, H., Gula, R., Szymura, L. and Forster, M. (2005) Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus. Acta Theriologica, 50 (1). pp. 3-22. ISSN 0001-7051 C400 Genetics Article PeerReviewed 2005 ftulincoln 2022-03-02T20:01:07Z A population of grey wolves Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 inhabiting Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) on the Polish-Belarussian border has recovered after near extermination in the 1970s. Currently, it is intensively hunted in the Belarussian part of BPF and protected in the Polish part. We used a combination of molecular analysis, radiotracking, and field observation to study genetic diversity of the population after natural recolonisation and the consequences of heavy hunting for the genetic composition and social structure of wolf packs. Both microsatellite and mtDNA analyses revealed high genetic diversity. For 29 individuals and 20 microsatellite loci, the mean expected heterozygosity was 0.733. Four mtDNA haplotypes were found. Three of them had earlier been described from Europe. Their geographic distribution suggests that wolves recolonising BPF immigrated mainly from the north-east, and less effectively from the east and south-east. We traced the composition of 6 packs for a total of 26 pack-years. Packs were family units (a breeding pair with offspring) with occasional adoption of unrelated adult males, which occurred more frequently in packs living in the Belarussian part of the BPF, due to heavy hunting and poaching. Breeding pairs were half-sibs or unrelated wolves. Pair-bonds in the breeding pair lasted from 1 to 4 years and usually broke by the death of one or both mates. Successors of breeding females were their daughters, while a successor of a breeding male could be either his son or an alien wolf. As is evident from Białowieża's wolves, high genetic diversity may result from immigration of outside individuals, which are easily recruited to a heavily exploited local population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus University of Lincoln: Lincoln Repository |
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University of Lincoln: Lincoln Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftulincoln |
language |
unknown |
topic |
C400 Genetics |
spellingShingle |
C400 Genetics Jedrzejewski, W. Branicki, W. Veit, C. Medugorac, I. Pilot, Malgorzata Bunevich, A. N. Jedrzejewska, B. Schmidt, K. Theuerkauf, J. Okarm, H. Gula, R. Szymura, L. Forster, M. Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
topic_facet |
C400 Genetics |
description |
A population of grey wolves Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 inhabiting Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) on the Polish-Belarussian border has recovered after near extermination in the 1970s. Currently, it is intensively hunted in the Belarussian part of BPF and protected in the Polish part. We used a combination of molecular analysis, radiotracking, and field observation to study genetic diversity of the population after natural recolonisation and the consequences of heavy hunting for the genetic composition and social structure of wolf packs. Both microsatellite and mtDNA analyses revealed high genetic diversity. For 29 individuals and 20 microsatellite loci, the mean expected heterozygosity was 0.733. Four mtDNA haplotypes were found. Three of them had earlier been described from Europe. Their geographic distribution suggests that wolves recolonising BPF immigrated mainly from the north-east, and less effectively from the east and south-east. We traced the composition of 6 packs for a total of 26 pack-years. Packs were family units (a breeding pair with offspring) with occasional adoption of unrelated adult males, which occurred more frequently in packs living in the Belarussian part of the BPF, due to heavy hunting and poaching. Breeding pairs were half-sibs or unrelated wolves. Pair-bonds in the breeding pair lasted from 1 to 4 years and usually broke by the death of one or both mates. Successors of breeding females were their daughters, while a successor of a breeding male could be either his son or an alien wolf. As is evident from Białowieża's wolves, high genetic diversity may result from immigration of outside individuals, which are easily recruited to a heavily exploited local population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jedrzejewski, W. Branicki, W. Veit, C. Medugorac, I. Pilot, Malgorzata Bunevich, A. N. Jedrzejewska, B. Schmidt, K. Theuerkauf, J. Okarm, H. Gula, R. Szymura, L. Forster, M. |
author_facet |
Jedrzejewski, W. Branicki, W. Veit, C. Medugorac, I. Pilot, Malgorzata Bunevich, A. N. Jedrzejewska, B. Schmidt, K. Theuerkauf, J. Okarm, H. Gula, R. Szymura, L. Forster, M. |
author_sort |
Jedrzejewski, W. |
title |
Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
title_short |
Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
title_full |
Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
title_fullStr |
Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus |
title_sort |
genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves canis lupus |
publisher |
Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Zakładu Badania Ssaków (Polish Academy of Sciences, Mammal Research Institute) / Springer Berlin / Heidelberg |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/9444/ |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
Jedrzejewski, W., Branicki, W., Veit, C., Medugorac, I., Pilot, Malgorzata, Bunevich, A. N., Jedrzejewska, B., Schmidt, K., Theuerkauf, J., Okarm, H., Gula, R., Szymura, L. and Forster, M. (2005) Genetic diversity and relatedness within packs in an intensely hunted population of wolves Canis lupus. Acta Theriologica, 50 (1). pp. 3-22. ISSN 0001-7051 |
_version_ |
1766384968709177344 |