Schenker Laura, Bollmann Kurt, Rehnus Maik, Brodbeck Sabine, Gugerli Felix
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Birmensdorf Switzerland.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Sep 4;10(18):10150-10166. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6676. eCollection 2020 Sep.
Systematic monitoring of individuals and their abundance over time has become an important tool to provide information for conservation. For genetic monitoring studies, noninvasive sampling has emerged as a valuable approach, particularly so for elusive or rare animals. Here, we present the 5-year results of an ongoing noninvasive genetic monitoring of mountain hares () in a protected area in the Swiss Alps. We used nuclear microsatellites and a sex marker to identify individuals and assign species to noninvasively collected feces samples. Through including a marker for sex identification, we were able to assess sex ratio changes and sex-specific demographic parameters over time. Male abundance in the area showed high fluctuations and apparent survival for males was lower than for females. Generally, males and females showed only little temporary migration into and out of the study area. Additionally, using genotyped tissue samples from mountain hares, European hares () and their hybrids, we were able to provide evidence for the first occurrence of a European hare in the study area at an elevation of 2,300 m a.s.l. in spring 2016. For future monitoring studies, we suggest to include complementary analysis methods to reliably infer species identities of the individuals analyzed and, thus, not only monitor mountain hare individual abundance, but also assess the potential threats given through competitive exclusion by and hybridization with the European hare.
对个体及其数量随时间进行系统监测已成为提供保护信息的重要工具。对于基因监测研究而言，非侵入性采样已成为一种有价值的方法，对于难以捉摸或稀有的动物尤其如此。在此，我们展示了在瑞士阿尔卑斯山一个保护区对欧洲野兔进行的为期5年的非侵入性基因监测结果。我们使用核微卫星和一个性别标记来识别个体，并将物种分配到非侵入性收集的粪便样本中。通过纳入性别识别标记，我们能够评估性别比例变化以及随时间变化的特定性别人口统计学参数。该地区雄性数量波动较大，雄性的表观存活率低于雌性。一般来说，雄性和雌性进出研究区域的临时迁移都很少。此外，利用欧洲野兔及其杂交种的基因分型组织样本，我们能够提供证据证明2016年春季在海拔2300米的研究区域首次出现了一只欧洲野兔。对于未来的监测研究，我们建议纳入补充分析方法，以可靠地推断所分析个体的物种身份，从而不仅监测欧洲野兔的个体数量，还评估因与欧洲野兔的竞争排斥和杂交而带来的潜在威胁。
