Challenges and science-based implications for modern management and conservation of European ungulate populations

Wildlife management systems face growing challenges to cope with increasingly complex interactions between wildlife populations, the environment and human activities. In this position statement, we address the most important issues characterising current ungulate conservation and management in Europe. We present some key points arising from ecological research that may be critical for a reassessment of ungulate management in the future. Ecosystem . Population sustainability . Science-basedmanagement .Wildlifemanagement .Adaptive managemen

Pan‐European phylogeography of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

To provide the most comprehensive picture of species phylogeny and phylogeography of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), we analyzed mtDNA control region (610 bp) of 1469 samples of roe deer from Central and Eastern Europe and included into the analyses additional 1541 mtDNA sequences from GenBank from other regions of the continent. We detected two mtDNA lineages of the species: European and Siberian (an introgression of C. pygargus mtDNA into C. capreolus). The Siberian lineage was most frequent in the eastern part of the continent and declined toward Central Europe. The European lineage contained three clades (Central, Eastern, and Western) composed of several haplogroups, many of which were separated in space. The Western clade appeared to have a discontinuous range from Portugal to Russia. Most of the haplogroups in the Central and the Eastern clades were under expansion during the Weichselian glacial period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the expansion time of the Western clade overlapped with the Eemian interglacial. The high genetic diversity of extant roe deer is the result of their survival during the LGM probably in a large, contiguous range spanning from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus Mts and in two northern refugia.202

A REVIEW OF MOOSE FERTILITY IN RUSSIA

Information on fertility of moose (Alces alces) and survival rate of calves in Russia is reviewed. The potential fertility of moose averages 1.3 (1.1-1.6) embryos per pregnant female. The percent of dry cows is variable, but usually does not exceed 35%. Annual calf mortality reaches 60-80%. Potential recruitment rate is near 40%, but is generally close to 30% by autumn, and drops by 10-15% in spring

Pan-European phylogeography of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

To provide the most comprehensive picture of species phylogeny and phylogeography of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), we analyzed mtDNA control region (610 bp) of 1469 samples of roe deer from Central and Eastern Europe and included into the analyses additional 1541 mtDNA sequences from GenBank from other regions of the continent. We detected two mtDNA lineages of the species: European and Siberian (an introgression of C. pygargus mtDNA into C. capreolus). The Siberian lineage was most frequent in the eastern part of the continent and declined toward Central Europe. The European lineage contained three clades (Central, Eastern, and Western) composed of several haplogroups, many of which were separated in space. The Western clade appeared to have a discontinuous range from Portugal to Russia. Most of the haplogroups in the Central and the Eastern clades were under expansion during the Weichselian glacial period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the expansion time of the Western clade overlapped with the Eemian interglacial. The high genetic diversity of extant roe deer is the result of their survival during the LGM probably in a large, contiguous range spanning from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus Mts and in two northern refugia

Data from: Unexpected population genetic structure of European roe deer in Poland: an invasion of the mtDNA genome from Siberian roe deer

Introgressive hybridization is a widespread evolutionary phenomenon which may lead to increased allelic variation at selective-neutral loci and to transfer of fitness-related traits to introgressed lineages. We inferred the population genetic structure of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in Poland from mitochondrial (CR and cyt b) and sex-linked markers (ZFX, SRY, DBY4 and DBY8). Analyses of CR mtDNA sequences from 452 individuals indicated widespread introgression of Siberian roe deer (C. pygargus) mtDNA in the European roe deer genome, 2000 km from the current distribution range of C. pygargus. Introgressed individuals constituted 16.6% of the deer studied. Nearly 75% of them possessed haplotypes belonging to the group which arose 23 kyr ago and have not been detected within the natural range of Siberian roe deer, indicating that majority of present introgression has ancient origin. Unlike the mtDNA results, sex-specific markers did not show signs of introgression. Species distribution modelling analyses suggested that C. pygargus could have extended its range as far west as Central Europe after LGM. The main hybridization event was probably associated with range expansion of the most abundant European roe deer lineage from western refugia and took place in Central Europe after the Younger Dryas (10.8–10.0 ka BP). Initially introgressed mtDNA variants could have spread out on the wave of expansion through the mechanism of gene surfing, reaching high frequencies in European roe deer populations and leading to observed asymmetrical gene flow. Human-mediated introductions of C. pygargus had minimal effect on the extent of mtDNA introgression

DISTLM_Forward_input_files

DISTLM Forward input file

mtDNA_-_alignment_and_tree_files

Alignment files for mtDNA: Control Region, cytochrome b and concatenated sequences of CR and cytb. Tree files are provided with additional Supporting information

Sex-linked_markers_-_alignment

Alignment files for sex-linked markers: ZFX gene intron 9; concatenated sequences of SRY, DBY4 and DBY

DISTLM_input_files

DISTLM input file