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Multiple geographic origins and high genetic differentiation of the Alpine marmots reintroduced in the Pyrenees

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Abstract

Reintroductions inherently involve a small number of founders leading reintroduced populations to be prone to genetic drift and, consequently, to inbreeding depression. Assessing the origins as the genetic diversity and structure of reintroduced populations compared to native populations are thus crucial to foresee their future. Here, we aim to clarify the origins of the Alpine marmots reintroduced in the Pyrenees and to evaluate the genetic consequences of this reintroduction after almost 30 years without monitoring. We search for the origins and compare the genetic structure and the genetic variability of three reintroduced Pyrenean and eight native Alpine populations using pairwise genetic distances, Bayesian clustering method and multivariate analyses. Our results reveal that the Alpine marmots reintroduced in the Pyrenees originated both from the Northern and the Southern Alps, and that, despite these multiple origins, none of the current Pyrenean marmots are admixed. The reintroduction led to a strong genetic differentiation and to a decrease in genetic diversity. This pattern likely results from the small number of founders and the low dispersal capacities of Alpine marmots and thus, highlight the necessity to consider both genetic characteristics and natural history when reintroducing a species.

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Acknowledgments

In the Alps, we thank all the volunteers for helping in the field. We warmly thank the rangers of the Ecrins National Park for their precious help and advices in the field, and more particularly M. Francou, R. Papet, C. Albert, R. Estachy and B. Gaudron. We also thank the Vanoise National Park, the Alpine station Joseph Fournier and the national research infrastructure AnaEE for their logistic help. We are very grateful to T. Gayet, B. Alric, L. Crespin, N. Ferry and M.-P. Beugin for their useful advices concerning the multivariate analyses. We also thank M.A. Gillingham for carefully editing the manuscript. Financial support was received from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Project ANR-13-JSV7-0005), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Rhône-Alpes region (Grant 15.005146.01). Fieldwork conducted was undertaken after acceptance by the Ecrins National Park, and deliverance of permits by the Préfectures of Savoie, Hautes-Alpes and Alpes de Haute Provence. A. Cohas and M. Ferrendiz-Rovira are authorized for experimentation with animals (diplomas 0ETRY20090520 and R45GRETAF110). The protocol has been approved by the ethical committee of the University of Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (n8BH2012-92 V1). In the Pyrenees, we also wish to thank all volunteers participating in the field campaigns. I. Figueroa received a grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya (011FI_B 00425) and from the Sociedad Española para la Conservación y el Estudio de Mamíferos (SECEM). We are also grateful to the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Natural Reserve of Freser-Setcases, and the Government of Andorra to help with localizations and permissions to capture marmots. I. Figueroa is authorized for experimentation with animals (UAB-FELASA, certificate number 53707). In the Gran Paradiso National Park we thank all the students who participated in the field work, all the Park rangers for their help and the Scientific Service for the coordination of the project. The research was funded by the Gran Paradiso National Park. C. Ferrari benefited from funds from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The study complied with Canadian law regarding animal experiments (Comité institutionnel de Protection des Animaux (CIPA-UQAM), Protocole No. 615) and was authorized by ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, ex-INFS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, 69622, Villeurbanne, France

    Coraline Bichet, Sandrine Sauzet, Laetitia Averty, Pierre Dupont, Mariona Ferrandiz-Rovira, Marion Tafani, Célia Rézouki & Aurélie Cohas

  2. CREAF, Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals, Edifici Ciències, 08193, Bellaterra Catalunya, Spain

    Mariona Ferrandiz-Rovira, Irene Figueroa & Bernat C. López

  3. Unitat d’Ecologia, Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Ciències, 08193, Bellaterra Catalunya, Spain

    Mariona Ferrandiz-Rovira & Bernat C. López

  4. Alpine Wildlife Research Centre, Gran Paradiso National Park, Degioz 11, 11010, Valsavarenche, Aosta, Italy

    Caterina Ferrari

  5. Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, 8888, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Caterina Ferrari

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  1. Coraline Bichet
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  2. Sandrine Sauzet
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  3. Laetitia Averty
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  4. Pierre Dupont
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  5. Mariona Ferrandiz-Rovira
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  6. Caterina Ferrari
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  7. Irene Figueroa
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  8. Marion Tafani
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  9. Célia Rézouki
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  10. Bernat C. López
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  11. Aurélie Cohas
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Correspondence to Aurélie Cohas.

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Bichet, C., Sauzet, S., Averty, L. et al. Multiple geographic origins and high genetic differentiation of the Alpine marmots reintroduced in the Pyrenees. Conserv Genet 17, 1157–1169 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-016-0851-4

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