Phylogeography, population genetics and conservation of the European red deer Cervus elaphus

Abstract

1. During the Last Glacial Maximum, European red deer Cervus elaphus occurred in refugia in Iberia/southern France, Italy, the Balkans and the Carpathians. Most of Europe, including large parts of the east and north-east, is now inhabited by red deer from the western lineage. The eastern lineage is largely confined to south-eastern Europe; a third lineage comprises Sardo-Corsican and Barbary red deer. 2. Sardo-Corsican, Barbary and Mesola red deer are genetically unique units. They exhibit low levels of genetic diversity and deserve particular protection, since conservation strategies should target genetic information. 3. Hybridization between sika Cervus nippon and red deer occurs rarely, but may lead to extensive introgression, particularly in parts of the British Isles. Further expansion of both species may lead to increased hybridization in continental Europe. 4. Although hunting has an impact on red deer gene pools, the main threat today is habitat fragmentation in human-dominated landscapes. The resulting increase in genetic drift and inbreeding reduces variability in isolated populations and may lead to inbreeding depression. To support vital meta-populations, migration corridors should be established. INTRODUCTIONThe red deer Cervus elaphus is one of the most widespread large mammals in Europe, occurring throughout most of the continent except in northern Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland. As perhaps the most important game species, it has also been undergoing anthropogenic impacts for centuries, or even millennia. The red deer is therefore an interesting model species whose distribution and genetic structure have been shaped by both natural and human factors, resulting in a mosaic pattern of recent human-mediated demographic factors, grafted on the underlying, more ancient structuring, through natural selection and large-scale biogeographic phenomena

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Hungarian red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) from high-throughput sequencing data and its phylogenetic position within the family Cervidae

“…The divergence times (less than 0.01 mya) suggest that Cervus elaphus songaricus, Cervus elaphus alxaicus, Cervus elaphus xanthopygus are more closely related to Cervus nippon than to other Cervus elaphus subspecies. The close relationship of these two groups, as described previously, could be the result of the evolution of the genus Cervus in Asia [5,7,9,15,22,35,36], or maybe it could be attributed to anthropogenic influences as seen in European deer [18, 20, 28-29, 33, 36].…”

Morphometric characterization of Mesola red deerCervus elaphus italicus(Mammalia: Cervidae)

“…Their morphological characteristics, coupled with genetic peculiarities (Lorenzini et al 2005;Hmwe et al 2006;Zachos et al in press) make the Mesola red deer unique, deserving special protection (Lovari & Nobili 2010;Zachos & Hartl 2011;Ferretti & Mattioli 2012).…”

“…The red deer Cervus elaphus italicus (Zachos et al 2014) inhabiting the Bosco Mesola Nature Reserve (northern Italy) constitute a population with relevance for zoogeography, genetics and conservation (Lovari & Nobili 2010;Zachos & Hartl 2011). They are the only native red deer of peninsular Italy (Castelli 1941;Mattioli 1990;Mattioli et al 2001) and show a mitochondrial DNA genotype with a sequence significantly different from those of all other populations of red deer (Lorenzini et al 2005;Hmwe et al 2006).…”

“…Previous studies on morphometry of antlers, and some biometric measures, have suggested that these deer show some morphological peculiarities (small body size, reduced sexual dimorphism, persistent spotting in the summer coat, small antlers of simplified design, low reproductive performance ;Mattioli 1990Mattioli , 1993Mattioli et al 2003). Mesola red deer are threatened, because of (i) their very small distribution range (c. 1000 ha) and numbers (less than 200 individuals, in 2010;Ferretti & Mattioli 2012), (ii) their very low genetic variability and (iii) the impact of a dense population of sympatric fallow deer Dama dama on their natural food resources (Lorenzini et al 1998;Mattioli et al 2003;Zachos et al 2009;Lovari & Nobili 2010;Zachos & Hartl 2011). In the last 15 years, conservation measures have been implemented (e.g.…”

The Degree of Genetic Admixture Within Species From Genus Cervus

“…The Sika deer have been introduced to many countries and the hybridisation with native Red deer population has been demonstrated in British Isles (Malcolm, 2015), Czech Republic (Bartoš et al, 1982;Macháček et al, 2014), Poland (Biedrzycka et al, 2012) or Germany (Herzog et al, 2016). However, in addition to local hybridization with sika three major conservation issues exist: threatened genetic lineages, and blurring of natural genetic structuring through translocations and reintroductions; selective hunting; and reduced effective population sizes due to habitat fragmentation (Zachos and Hartl, 2011). For long-term conservation and development purposes, it therefore appears compulsory to manage Red deer wildlife to maintain both species survival and within species genetic diversity.…”