Prey specialization may influence patterns of gene flow in wolves of the Canadian Northwest

Carmichael, Lindsey; Nagy, J.; Larter, Nicholas C.; Strobeck, Curtis

doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2001.t01-1-01408.x

Cited by 18 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Some species of large and medium carnivores with widespread distributions have cryptic genetic structures that cannot be explained by obvious geographical barriers or historical factors (Carmichael et al. 2001, Rueness et al.…”

Section: Landscape Genetics: Ecotypes and Local Adaptationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetics and conservation of wolves Canis lupus in Europe

Randi

2011

Mammal Review

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1. The wolf Canis lupus, the most widespread of the four species of large carnivores in Europe, after centuries of population decline and eradication, is now recovering in many countries. Wolves contribute to regulating prey-predator dynamics and interact with human activities, mainly livestock farming and ungulate hunting. Although wolves are protected in most European countries, illegal or incidental killing is widespread. 2. Wolf populations do not show any apparent phylogeographic structuring worldwide. Molecular and morphological studies of historical samples showed evidence of wolf ecomorph extinctions, coinciding with the great Pleistocene faunal turnover. 3. Extant populations show recurrent long-range dispersal during cycles of expansion and recolonization. Demographically stable populations, in contrast, seem to be characterized by very limited gene flow. 4. Despite the potential for dispersal and ecological flexibility, landscape genetic approaches have demonstrated the existence of genetically distinct wolf populations, which originated through habitat and prey specializations. 5. Small isolated wolf populations may suffer from inbreeding depression, although selection for heterozygotes and the rescue effect can foster rapid population recovery. Population structure and dynamics is efficiently monitored by non-invasive genetic methods, which are also useful to identify wolf ¥ dog Canis lupus familiaris hybridization. 6. Despite technical advances and a better knowledge of wolf biology, wolf conservation is largely dependent on humans, and on the solution of conflicts with stakeholders.

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Section: Landscape Genetics: Ecotypes and Local Adaptationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, ecological and behavioural factors, such as diet and natal habitat, may limit dispersal, isolating neighbouring subpopulations. Carmichael et al. (2001) found that prey specialization constrained gene flow among contiguous wolf populations.…”

Section: Landscape Genetics: Ecotypes and Local Adaptationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics and conservation of wolves Canis lupus in Europe

Randi

2011

Mammal Review

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“…However, historical processes and current population dynamics might be more complex than previously suggested (Leonard et al . 2000; Carmichael et al . 2001), and phylogeographical inference from contemporary genetic data may not reflect the complexity of historical processes (Barnes et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1992). Wolves developed either strictly territorial or migratory behaviours in western Canada, adapting to the behaviour of their prevalent prey, the moose or the caribou (Carmichael et al . 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of genetic distinction and long‐term population decline in wolves (Canis lupus) in the Italian Apennines

Lucchini¹,

Galov²,

Randi³

2004

Molecular Ecology

111

110

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Historical information suggests the occurrence of an extensive human-caused contraction in the distribution range of wolves (Canis lupus) during the last few centuries in Europe. Wolves disappeared from the Alps in the 1920s, and thereafter continued to decline in peninsular Italy until the 1970s, when approximately 100 individuals survived, isolated in the central Apennines. In this study we performed a coalescent analysis of multilocus DNA markers to infer patterns and timing of historical population changes in wolves surviving in the Apennines. This population showed a unique mitochondrial DNA control-region haplotype, the absence of private alleles and lower heterozygosity at microsatellite loci, as compared to other wolf populations. Multivariate, clustering and Bayesian assignment procedures consistently assigned all the wolf genotypes sampled in Italy to a single group, supporting their genetic distinction. Bottleneck tests showed evidences of population decline in the Italian wolves, but not in other populations. Results of a Bayesian coalescent model indicate that wolves in Italy underwent a 100- to 1000-fold population contraction over the past 2000-10,000 years. The population decline was stronger and longer in peninsular Italy than elsewhere in Europe, suggesting that wolves have apparently been genetically isolated for thousands of generations south of the Alps. Ice caps covering the Alps at the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 18,000 years before present), and the wide expansion of the Po River, which cut the alluvial plains throughout the Holocene, might have provided effective geographical barriers to wolf dispersal. More recently, the admixture of Alpine and Apennine wolf populations could have been prevented by deforestation, which was already widespread in the fifteenth century in northern Italy. This study suggests that, despite the high potential rates of dispersal and gene flow, local wolf populations may not have mixed for long periods of time.

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“…Within gray wolves, genetic partitions have been identified that are associated with habitat (i.e. Carmichael et al. 2001, 2007; Pilot et al.…”

Section: Indefinite Use Of Terminologymentioning

confidence: 99%