Jarausch Anne, Harms Verena, Kluth Gesa, Reinhardt Ilka, Nowak Carsten
Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany.
Department of Biological Sciences, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Heredity (Edinb). 2021 Jul;127(1):92-106. doi: 10.1038/s41437-021-00429-6. Epub 2021 Apr 12.
Following massive persecution and eradication, strict legal protection facilitated a successful reestablishment of wolf packs in Germany, which has been ongoing since 2000. Here, we describe this recolonization process by mitochondrial DNA control-region sequencing, microsatellite genotyping and sex identification based on 1341 mostly non-invasively collected samples. We reconstructed the genealogy of German wolf packs between 2005 and 2015 to provide information on trends in genetic diversity, dispersal patterns and pack dynamics during the early expansion process. Our results indicate signs of a founder effect at the start of the recolonization. Genetic diversity in German wolves is moderate compared to other European wolf populations. Although dispersal among packs is male-biased in the sense that females are more philopatric, dispersal distances are similar between males and females once only dispersers are accounted for. Breeding with close relatives is regular and none of the six male wolves originating from the Italian/Alpine population reproduced. However, moderate genetic diversity and inbreeding levels of the recolonizing population are preserved by high sociality, dispersal among packs and several immigration events. Our results demonstrate an ongoing, rapid and natural wolf population expansion in an intensively used cultural landscape in Central Europe.
在经历大规模迫害和根除之后，严格的法律保护促使狼群于2000年起在德国成功重新建立起来。在此，我们通过线粒体DNA控制区测序、微卫星基因分型以及基于1341份大多通过非侵入性方式收集的样本进行性别鉴定，来描述这一重新定居过程。我们重建了2005年至2015年间德国狼群的谱系，以提供有关早期扩张过程中遗传多样性趋势、扩散模式和狼群动态的信息。我们的结果表明在重新定居开始时存在奠基者效应的迹象。与其他欧洲狼群相比，德国狼的遗传多样性处于中等水平。虽然从雌性更倾向于留居原地的意义上来说，狼群之间的扩散存在雄性偏向，但一旦只考虑扩散个体，雄性和雌性的扩散距离相似。近亲繁殖时有发生，且来自意大利/阿尔卑斯种群的六只雄狼均未繁殖后代。然而，高群居性、狼群间的扩散以及多次迁入事件保持了重新定居种群的中等遗传多样性和近亲繁殖水平。我们的结果表明，在中欧一个被密集利用的文化景观中，狼群正在持续、快速且自然地扩张。
