Rapidly declining fine‐scale spatial genetic structure in female red deer

Abstract

A growing literature now documents the presence of fine-scale genetic structure in wild vertebrate populations. Breeding population size, levels of dispersal and polygyny--all hypothesized to affect population genetic structure--are known to be influenced by ecological conditions experienced by populations. However the possibility of temporal or spatial variation in fine-scale genetic structure as a result of ecological change is rarely considered or explored. Here we investigate temporal variation in fine-scale genetic structure in a red deer population on the Isle or Rum, Scotland. We document extremely fine-scale spatial genetic structure (< 100 m) amongst females but not males across a 24-year study period during which resource competition has intensified and the population has reached habitat carrying capacity. Based on census data, adult deer were allocated to one of three subpopulations in each year of the study. Global F(ST) estimates for females generated using these subpopulations decreased over the study period, indicating a rapid decline in fine-scale genetic structure of the population. Global F(ST) estimates for males were not different from zero across the study period. Using census and genetic data, we illustrate that, as a consequence of a release from culling early in the study period, the number of breeding females has increased while levels of polygyny have decreased in this population. We found little evidence for increasing dispersal between subpopulations over time in either sex. We argue that both increasing female population size and decreasing polygyny could explain the decline in female population genetic structure.

Dispersal and group formation dynamics in a rare and endangered temperate forest bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus, Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

“…2002; Nussey et al. 2005; Robinson et al. 2012), suggesting that kinship plays an important role in group choice during group fission, more research is needed to understand the relative roles played by kinship and social bonds (see also Lukas et al 2005).…”

Evidence of rapid change in genetic structure and diversity during range expansion in a recovering large terrestrial carnivore

“…This is especially the case in many larger mammals that experienced extensive population bottlenecks due to extirpation in the past (e.g. [26][27][28]). …”

“…For instance, spatially extensive studies at fine temporal scales may allow for close tracking of the genetic changes as they emerge [12,22,23]. Few population genetic studies have investigated range expansions at a fine temporal scale in nature, especially in wild animal populations and over larger areas [23][24][25][26]. Consequently, the empirical relationship between genetic changes and abundance range of a species and population is often ambiguous in wildlife populations.…”

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

“…Male-biased dispersal leads to the expectation of a greater than fourfold reduction in spatial structuring in nuclear genotypes relative to maternally inherited genetic material, such as mtDNA (Prugnolle and de Meeus, 2002). At finer spatial scales, female philopatry can result in clustering of related individuals and structuring of nuclear genotypes across continuous space (Coltman et al, 2003b;Nussey et al, 2005). Studies of red deer using nuclear DNA or protein markers have tended to find significant genetic structure between proximate populations of red deer in Europe, while failing to find evidence of any relationship between genetic and geographic distances between populations (Gyllensten et al, 1983;Hartl et al, 1990Hartl et al, , 1995.…”

“…Since the late 1960s the red deer resident to the 'North Block' (Block 4; Figure 1) have been subject to long-term individual-based ecological, behavioural and genetic study (Clutton-Brock et al, 1982;Coulson et al, 2004;Nussey et al, 2005). Deer on the rest of the island have not been subject to individual-based study, but regular censuses of numbers have been taken (Clutton-Brock et al, 2002), and collection of bone and tissue samples from culls has also occurred.…”