Is the western population of the European mink, (Mustela lutreola), a distinct Management Unit for conservation?

Abstract

The European mink (Mustela lutreola) is one of the most threatened carnivores in Europe, with fragmented populations in Belarus, Russia and Romania, as well in south-western France and northern Spain. Many populations have become extinct recently, or are declining. We investigated mitochondrial DNA variation, using the complete D-loop region, and concentrating on the west European population. The aim was two-fold: to use the genetic information to advise on the conservation of European mink, and to begin to understand their history through the Pleistocene. Captive breeding and re-introduction programmes are underway, so it is particularly vital to know whether the West European population should be treated separately. We find that European mink probably colonised from a single refugium after the last glaciation. West European populations may be fixed for a single haplotype, also suggesting a common origin. Despite this evidence for gene flow, following the precautionary principle we suggest that mink from the three geographically separate populations (Romania, Eastern and Western Europe) should be managed separately, for the moment. #

Mitochondrial phylogeography of the edible dormouse (Glis glis) in the western Palearctic region

“…The extremely low genetic diversity in G. glis suggests that this species may be vulnerable to rapid climatic shifts, as is thought to be the case for many other endangered species, such as mustelids (Michaux et al 2004), the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii- Jones et al 2004), and the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus-O' Brien et al 1986). Future work examining other glirids for concordant patterns may reveal a link between hibernation behavior and population structure in this family, and these studies should have important implications for conservation of G. glis and other potentially threatened glirid species.…”

Reintroduction of the European mink Mustela lutreola in Saarland, Germany. Preliminary data on the use of space and activity as revealed by radio-tracking and live-trapping

“…Macdonald et al (2002) modelled the reintroduction of Mustela lutreola in Estonia using a preliminary population viability analysis to estimate the probability of successful establishment of the introduced population. They concluded that at least 30 to 40 founder animals are necessary to guarantee high genetic variability of a reintroduced population of M. lutreola originating from the eastern population, which has been verified as highly variable (Michaux et al 2004(Michaux et al , 2005. Based on the results of the aforementioned experimental reintroductions of M. lutreola, we released 48 animals over a 2 yr period in a nature reserve in Saarland as part of a larger release program (75 founder animals within a 3 yr period).…”

Status, threats and management actions on the European mink Mustela lutreola (Linnaeus, 1761) in Spain: a review of the studies performed since 1992

“…According to the most feasible hypothesis, the Spanish section was founded by French individuals whose origins come from Central Europe (Rodríguez de Ondarra, 1955, 1963de Bellefroid, 1999de Bellefroid, , 2005. The process of its arrival is, however, under discussion with currently two hypotheses: human introduction or natural invasion (Michaux et al, 2004(Michaux et al, , 2005. Nonetheless, there is a consensus on the fact that the entire Western population (Spain and France) is the result of a "bottleneck" effect that reduced the genetic variability of the population in the area (Michaux et al, 2004;2005).…”

“…The process of its arrival is, however, under discussion with currently two hypotheses: human introduction or natural invasion (Michaux et al, 2004(Michaux et al, , 2005. Nonetheless, there is a consensus on the fact that the entire Western population (Spain and France) is the result of a "bottleneck" effect that reduced the genetic variability of the population in the area (Michaux et al, 2004;2005). In Spain, the species is currently distributed along Navarra, La Rioja, Basque Country, Eastern Castilla y León (NW Burgos and North Soria) and Central Aragón (West Zaragoza) (González-Esteban et al, 2001;Palazón et al, 2003;Zabala et al, 2004) (Figure 2).…”

“…In the last years the decline seems to have slowdown; however remnant populations continue decreasing and it has gone recently extinct in Estonia (Maran, 2006). Currently, only three separated populations remain in the wild: the North-eastern population in Russia (Michaux et al, 2004;Sidorovich, 2000); the Southeastern population in the Danube river delta in Romania (Kranz et al, 2006;Michaux et al, 2004) and Ukraine (de Jongh et al, 2007); and the Western population in Northern Spain and South-western France (Palazón et al, 2002. The first, the Russian population, ranges from North of European Russia to the Ural Mountains, with a population size lower to 20000 individuals (Tumanov, 1999) and a high decreasing trend from the last two decades (Maran, 2007).…”