The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus L.) on the Kola Peninsula (Russia): silently disappearing in the mist of data deficiency?

Abstract

The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus L.) population on the Kola Peninsula occupies an intermediate, and potentially connecting, position between foxes living on the Scandinavian Peninsula and populations further east in Russia, but very little is known about the status of this population. Here we summarize data from the literature, forgotten archival sources about research in the first half of the twentieth century, and the results of several independent expeditions undertaken over the past two decades. These materials include data on fur harvesting, incomplete monitoring data from official winter track counts of game animals, local knowledge, and our own observations. Our research revealed the extremely poor state of the Arctic fox population on the Kola Peninsula. According to our estimates, the current population is likely isolated and consists of no more than a few dozen adults. The fur return data, together with long-term data on small rodent abundance, suggest that irregular and fading out lemming cycles were a major driver of the Arctic fox population decline. The thorough research from the 1930s contrasts strongly with the lack of interest in studying and monitoring the population in recent decades, which is not even listed as a threatened species in the regional Red Data Book. In fact, the work performed here filled a more than a half-century gap in the study of the population and allowed us to determine the urgent need to resume research and immediately take active measures to protect and promote the recovery of the species in the region.

Genomic Consequences of Fragmentation in the Endangered Fennoscandian Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus)

“…Candidate mutations that contribute to inbreeding depression within ROH should be identified [ 86 , 89 ], and the efficiency of purging investigated [ 22 ]. Furthermore, the distribution of ROH could allow us to infer the timing of fragmentation in these arctic fox populations, that lack long-term monitoring data, particularly on the Kola Peninsula [ 49 , 90 ]. A temporal approach [ 91 ] may also illustrate the genetic response to historical events [ 57 , 58 , 92 , 93 ].…”

“…However, the Scandinavian tundra (mostly mountain tundra) is naturally fragmented with intersectional boreal forests [ 46 , 47 ]. Ice-free coasts around Fennoscandia and an increasingly ice-free White Sea limit dispersal from the East [ 48 , 49 ]. The Russian Arctic stretching from the Kanin Peninsula to the shores of the Bering Sea does not exhibit such barriers [ 48 ].…”

“…It has been established that dispersal with gene flow has gradually declined following the 19th century population bottleneck [ 39 , 40 , 43 , 48 , 50 ]. The state of the arctic fox population on the Kola Peninsula has been unknown for more than half a century, but recent investigations revealed a situation similar to Scandinavia, with an extremely isolated population consisting of at most a few dozen individuals [ 49 ]. Likewise, recent assessments of the northernmost subpopulations of Norway in Finnmark suggest that climate-driven rodent cycle irregularity and increasing red fox abundance may have resulted in the near loss of the arctic fox of this area [ 51 ].…”

“…Likewise, recent assessments of the northernmost subpopulations of Norway in Finnmark suggest that climate-driven rodent cycle irregularity and increasing red fox abundance may have resulted in the near loss of the arctic fox of this area [ 51 ]. However, it is likely that the species was still more abundant in Finnmark and on the Kola Peninsula until the 1970s and that the decline was more recent than further south in Scandinavia [ 49 , 51 ].…”

Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites as an indicator of adrenocortical activity in Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) and recommendations for future studies

“…The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) has a circumpolar distribution and is considered in stable condition throughout most of its range (Audet et al 2002), apart from Fennoscandia where the species has been threatened by extinction for more than 100 years (Angerbjörn et al 2008;Henriksen and Hilmo 2015, but see also Tirronen et al 2021). Throughout its range, Arctic foxes are subject to several potential stressors such as competition and predation from larger carnivores, marginal and highly fluctuating prey availability, as well as disturbance from humans.…”