Journal
PLOS ONE
Volume 12, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176560
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Italian Ministry of Environment (MATTM)
- Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)
- European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway
- Estonian Ministry of Education and Research [IUT20-32]
- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [IF/564/2012]
- BIOGEAST Biodiversity of East-European
- Siberian large mammals on the level of genetic variation of populations, 7th Framework Programme [247652, 2096/7, UE/2011/2]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The survival of isolated small populations is threatened by both demographic and genetic factors. Large carnivores declined for centuries in most of Europe due to habitat changes, overhunting of their natural prey and direct persecution. However, the current rewilding trends are driving many carnivore populations to expand again, possibly reverting the erosion of their genetic diversity. In this study we reassessed the extent and origin of the genetic variation of the Italian wolf population, which is expanding after centuries of decline and isolation. We genotyped wolves from Italy and other nine populations at four mtDNA regions (control-region, ATP6, COIII and ND4) and 39 autosomal microsatellites. Results of phylogenetic analyses and assignment procedures confirmed in the Italian wolves a second private mtDNA haplotype, which belongs to a haplogroup distributed mostly in southern Europe. Coalescent analyses showed that the unique mtDNA haplotypes in the Italian wolves likely originated during the late Pleistocene. ABC simulations concordantly showed that the extant wolf populations in Italy and in south-western Europe started to be isolated and declined right after the last glacial maximum. Thus, the standing genetic variation in the Italian wolves principally results from the historical isolation south of the Alps.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available