Genetic traces of dispersal and admixture in red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations from the Carpathian Basin

Abstract

After the last glacial, the Carpathian Basin was repopulated from either eastward or northward colonisation routes for various species; one of these was the emblematic member of the European megafauna, the red deer, Cervus elaphus. We analysed 303 red deer individuals from the middle of the region, in seven Hungarian game reserves, at ten microsatellite loci (C01, C229, T26, T108, T123, T156, T172, T193, T501, T507), to investigate the genetic diversity of these subpopulations. We discovered high levels of genetic diversity of red deer subpopulations; allelic richness values ranging 4.99–7.01, observed heterozygosity 0.729–0.800, polymorphic information content 0.722–0.806, and Shannon’s information index 1.668–2.064. Multi-locus analyses indicated population admixtures of various degrees that corresponded to geographical location, and complex genetic structures were shown by clustering. Populations in the south-western and the north-eastern parts of the region formed two highly separated groups, and the red deer from populations in between them were highly admixed (in western Pannonia/Transdanubia, where the Danube flows into the Carpathian Basin). This pattern corresponds to the distribution of mitochondrial as well as Y-chromosome lineages. Assignment tests showed that a large fraction of individuals (29.4%) are found outside of their population of origin, indicating that the dispersal of red deer is rather common, which could be expected considering the life course of the species.

Testing of microsatellite markers for individual identification of fallow deer

“…For comparison, the DeerPlex markers in Hungarian red deer were all polymorphic (sample size=303). The marker with the lowest number of alleles had seven alleles (C229) and the marker with the highest number of alleles had 27 alleles (T156) (FRANK et al 2022). Other studies regarding fallow deer showed similar results, suggesting the potential causes to be the Pleistocene extinction, bottleneck effect, human-mediated reintroduction, and other anthropogenic effects (BAKER et al 2017).…”

Comparative Analysis of Microsatellite and SNP Markers for Genetic Management of Red Deer

“…Genetic structure analyses have been conducted in red deer populations across various European regions including the Iberian Peninsula [46][47][48][49], France [50,51], Luxemburg [52], Belgium [53], Scotland [20,54], Ireland [55], Germany [56,57], Denmark [58], Poland [59], Sweden [60], Norway [61], Czech Republic [62], Hungary [63], Croatia [64], Italy [65], or Greece [66]. Furthermore, assessments of genetic structure at a continental scale have also been carried out [67].…”