Revisiting the phylogeography and demography of European badgers (Meles meles) based on broad sampling, multiple markers and simulations

Abstract

Although the phylogeography of European mammals has been extensively investigated since the 1990s, many studies were limited in terms of sampling distribution, the number of molecular markers used and the analytical techniques employed, frequently leading to incomplete postglacial recolonisation scenarios. The broad-scale genetic structure of the European badger (Meles meles) is of interest as it may result from historic restriction to glacial refugia and/or recent anthropogenic impact. However, previous studies were based mostly on samples from western Europe, making it difficult to draw robust conclusions about the location of refugia, patterns of postglacial expansion and recent demography. In the present study, continent-wide sampling and analyses with multiple markers provided evidence for two glacial refugia (Iberia and southeast Europe) that contributed to the genetic variation observed in badgers in Europe today. Approximate Bayesian computation provided support for a colonisation of Scandinavia from both Iberian and southeastern refugia. In the whole of Europe, we observed a decline in genetic diversity with increasing latitude, suggesting that the reduced diversity in the peripheral populations resulted from a postglacial expansion processes. Although MSVAR v.1.3 also provided evidence for recent genetic bottlenecks in some of these peripheral populations, the simulations performed to estimate the method's power to correctly infer the past demography of our empirical populations suggested that the timing and severity of bottlenecks could not be established with certainty. We urge caution against trying to relate demographic declines inferred using MSVAR with particular historic or climatological events.

High gene flow in the American badger overrides habitat preferences and limits broadscale genetic structure

“…; Frantz et al . ). Based on the low genetic diversity in the LP, badgers in the LP may benefit from conservation and management actions to limit the erosion of genetic variation, like those enacted in other peripheral populations in British Columbia and Ontario (Newhouse & Kinley ; COSEWIC ).…”

Between the Balkans and the Baltic: Phylogeography of a Common Vole Mitochondrial DNA Lineage Limited to Central Europe

“…To test for recent population expansion in mitochondrial lineages, we applied three tests in Arlequin 3.5.1.2 [46]: Tajima’s [47] D and Fu’s [48] F S statistics and the mismatch distribution using sum of squared deviations SSD [49], with significance inferred using 1000 bootstrap replicates. Subsequently, we calculated time since expansion for lineages in which all three tests confirmed recent expansion (Tajima’s D and Fu’s F S significant, SSD not significant; see [16, 30, 50]). The estimate was calculated according to a method based on the Tau value (Tau = 2ut, where u is the mutation rate and t is the mean generation time [51, 52]) using an online tool described by Schenekar and Weiss [53] (mismatch calculator, kindly provided by Stephen Weiss).…”

Impact of human land use patterns and climatic variables on badger (Meles meles) foraging behaviour in Ireland

“…As a mammalian species likely introduced early in the history of human colonisation of Ireland (Frantz et al 2014), badgers have adapted to the significant modification of Irish landscapes in concert with human activities. Though the badgers in our study area showed a clear preference for pasture fields and considerable avoidance of arable land, indicating a strong overall influence of human land use patterns on their foraging activity, this impact does not seem to translate into longer distances travelled when arable land makes up a greater proportion of the habitat in the vicinity.…”