Journal
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
Volume 124, Issue 4, Pages 621-632Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly060
Keywords
boreal invasion; climate change; phylogeography
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Funding
- Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) [2011-1015]
- Onnesjo foundation
- Goran Gustafsson foundation for Nature and Environment in Lappland
- foundation in memory of Oscar och Lili Lamni
- Tullberg foundation for biological research
- Norwegian Environment Agency
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Understanding the response of boreal species to past climate warming can help to predict future responses to climate change. In the Northern Hemisphere, the distribution and abundance of northern populations have been influenced by previous glaciations. In this study, we investigated the population history of the Fennoscandian red fox (Vulpes vulpes), which is a generalist carnivore currently undergoing range expansion in the tundra ecosystem. By analysing a 696 bp sequence of the mitochondrial DNA (N = 259) and two Y chromosome-specific microsatellite loci (N = 120), we specifically investigated where the red fox survived the Last Glacial Maximum and how Fennoscandia was recolonized. There was high genetic continuity across most of Fennoscandia, and we identified at least two recolonization pathways: one from continental Europe and one from the northeast (Siberia). Mitochondrial haplotype diversity displayed a significant decline with increasing latitude, consistent with expectations of unidirectional colonization. Each region displayed signatures of recent demographic and/or range expansions. For Finland, an additional recolonization route was suggested from the mismatch distribution analysis and identification of novel haplotypes. We concluded that, as with many boreal generalist species, the Fennoscandian red fox originates from multiple refugia, suggesting that it has benefited from diverse evolutionary histories, potentially enhancing its tolerance to different habitat conditions.
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