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Genome-wide profiles indicate wolf population connectivity within the eastern Carpathian Mountains

Genetica volume 148, pages 33–39 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

The Carpathian Mountains provide critical wildlife habitat in central Europe, and previous genome-wide studies have found western Carpathian Mountain wolves (Canis lupus) to be a separate population. Whereas differentiation to the north may be explained by a lowland-mountain transition and habitat fragmentation, the eastern Carpathian Mountains extending through Romania appear to offer continuous wildlife habitat southward. Our objective was to assess gene flow patterns and population connectivity among wolves in Romania, western Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova. We sought to determine if the Carpathian Mountain region is best described by a north–south gradient in genetic profiles, or whether Romanian wolves show population structure with northern individuals clustering with western Ukraine. We genotyped 48 individuals with 170 000 single nucleotide polymorphism markers, and successful profiles from Romania (n = 27) and Moldova (n = 2) were merged with existing data from western Ukraine (n = 10). Expected heterozygosity was 0.234 (SE 0.001) for Romania and 0.229 (SE 0.001) for western Ukraine, whereas observed heterozygosity values were 0.230 (SE 0.001) versus 0.231 (SE 0.001). Population structure analyses with a maximum likelihood method supported K = 1 population, followed by K = 2 where Romania formed one cluster, and western Ukraine and Moldova formed another. Principal component analysis results were broadly consistent with K = 2. Pairwise FST between western Ukraine and Romania was 0.042 (p = 0.001). Our findings indicated weak population differentiation, and future research may clarify whether the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in the region is associated with environmental and ecological factors such as terrain ruggedness and the distribution of prey species.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the assistance of Cino Pertoldi, Sylwia Czarnomska, Attila Kecskés and Csaba Domokos. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback on the manuscript. The study was supported by a grant to HSE from Aalborg Zoo Conservation Foundation (2017-6), and AVS was funded by the Danish Natural Science Research Council (Grant 1337-00007) and a senior postdoctoral fellowship from Insubria University, Italy. DNA extraction of Romanian samples was supported by the National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation (ANCSI) Project PN1330206/PN16330207 and sampling was conducted under Permits Nos. 2278/2011, 3456/2012 and 2187/2013 (Romanian Ministry of Environment).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    H. S. Ericson & A. V. Stronen

  2. National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Brasov, Romania

    A. Fedorca, G. Ionescu & M. Fedorca

  3. Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov, Romania

    A. Fedorca, G. Ionescu & M. Fedorca

  4. Institute of Zoology, Moldova Academy of Sciences, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    I. Toderas

  5. “Milvus Group” Bird and Nature Protection Association, Târgu Mureș, Romania

    Z. Hegyeli

  6. Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland

    K. Plis & B. Jędrzejewska

  7. Department of Zoology, Biological Faculty, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine

    I. Dykyy

  8. Department of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    L. Iacolina

  9. Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Insubria University, Varese, Italy

    A. V. Stronen

  10. Biology Department, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    A. V. Stronen

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  1. H. S. Ericson
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  2. A. Fedorca
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  3. I. Toderas
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  7. B. Jędrzejewska
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  8. G. Ionescu
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  9. M. Fedorca
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  10. L. Iacolina
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  11. A. V. Stronen
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Correspondence to A. V. Stronen.

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Ericson, H.S., Fedorca, A., Toderas, I. et al. Genome-wide profiles indicate wolf population connectivity within the eastern Carpathian Mountains. Genetica 148, 33–39 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-019-00083-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-019-00083-1

Keywords

  • Canis lupus
  • Gene flow
  • Large carnivores
  • Population structure
  • Single nucleotide polymorphism
  • Transboundary conservation