Wolf population genetics in Europe: a systematic review,meta‐analysis and suggestions for conservation and management |
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| Authors: | Maris Hindrikson Jaanus Remm Malgorzata Pilot Raquel Godinho Astrid Vik Stronen Laima Baltrūnaité Sylwia D. Czarnomska Jennifer A. Leonard Ettore Randi Carsten Nowak Mikael Åkesson José Vicente López‐Bao Francisco Álvares Luis Llaneza Jorge Echegaray Carles Vilà Janis Ozolins Dainis Rungis Jouni Aspi Ladislav Paule Tomaž Skrbinšek Urmas Saarma |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia;2. School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK;3. CIBIO/InBio 4. – 5. Centro de Investiga??o em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vair?o, Portugal;6. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal;7. Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Section of Biology and Environmental Science, Aalborg University, Aalborg ?st, Denmark;8. Laboratory of Mammalian Biology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania;9. Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences, Bia?owie?a, Poland;10. Department of Integrative Ecology, Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Do?ana (EBD‐CSIC), Seville, Spain;11. Laboratorio di Genetica, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Ozzano dell'Emilia, Bologna, Italy;12. Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany;13. Department of Ecology, Grims? Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, Sweden;14. Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO/CSIC/PA), Oviedo University, Mieres, Spain;15. ARENA Asesores en Recursos Naturales S.L. c/Perpetuo Socorro, Lugo, Spain;16. Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Salaspils, Latvia;17. Department of Genetics and Physiology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland;18. Department of Phytology, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University, Zvolen, Slovakia;19. Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia |
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| Abstract: | The grey wolf (Canis lupus) is an iconic large carnivore that has increasingly been recognized as an apex predator with intrinsic value and a keystone species. However, wolves have also long represented a primary source of human–carnivore conflict, which has led to long‐term persecution of wolves, resulting in a significant decrease in their numbers, genetic diversity and gene flow between populations. For more effective protection and management of wolf populations in Europe, robust scientific evidence is crucial. This review serves as an analytical summary of the main findings from wolf population genetic studies in Europe, covering major studies from the ‘pre‐genomic era’ and the first insights of the ‘genomics era’. We analyse, summarize and discuss findings derived from analyses of three compartments of the mammalian genome with different inheritance modes: maternal (mitochondrial DNA), paternal (Y chromosome) and biparental [autosomal microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)]. To describe large‐scale trends and patterns of genetic variation in European wolf populations, we conducted a meta‐analysis based on the results of previous microsatellite studies and also included new data, covering all 19 European countries for which wolf genetic information is available: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Belarus, Russia, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Spain and Portugal. We compared different indices of genetic diversity in wolf populations and found a significant spatial trend in heterozygosity across Europe from south‐west (lowest genetic diversity) to north‐east (highest). The range of spatial autocorrelation calculated on the basis of three characteristics of genetic diversity was 650?850 km, suggesting that the genetic diversity of a given wolf population can be influenced by populations up to 850 km away. As an important outcome of this synthesis, we discuss the most pressing issues threatening wolf populations in Europe, highlight important gaps in current knowledge, suggest solutions to overcome these limitations, and provide recommendations for science‐based wolf conservation and management at regional and Europe‐wide scales. |
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| Keywords: | Canis lupus conservation genomics European Union policy gene flow large carnivores wolf management microsatellites mitochondrial DNA SNP Y chromosome |
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