Genetic Variability and Structuring of Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus) Populations in Northern Fennoscandia

Variation in presumably neutral genetic markers can inform us about evolvability, historical effective population sizes and phylogeographic history of contemporary populations. We studied genetic variability in 15 microsatellite loci in six native landlocked Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) populations in northern Fennoscandia, where this species is considered near threatened. We discovered that all populations were genetically highly (mean F-ST approximate to 0.26) differentiated and isolated from each other. Evidence was found for historical, but not for recent population size bottlenecks. Estimates of contemporary effective population size (N-e) ranged from seven to 228 and were significantly correlated with those of historical N-e but not with lake size. A census size (N-C) was estimated to be approximately 300 individuals in a pond (0.14 ha), which exhibited the smallest N-e (i.e. N-e/N-C = 0.02). Genetic variability in this pond and a connected lake is severely reduced, and both genetic and empirical estimates of migration rates indicate a lack of gene flow between them. Hence, albeit currently thriving, some northern Fennoscandian populations appear to be vulnerable to further loss of genetic variability and are likely to have limited capacity to adapt if selection pressures change.Peer reviewe

Among-individual paternity distance and extra-group paternity

This file contains data used for the individual-level analyses of paternity distance (PDi) and extra-group paternity. Data were collected as part of the long-term mark-recapture study of badgers at Woodchester Park (UK). It includes unique identifiers for each badger (ID) as well as their assigned father (Sire ID) and mother (Dam ID), the natal group ID of each badger (Cub_SocG) and its father (Sire_SocG) as well as the distance from cub to paternal social group (zero if same group, measured in meters from social group main sett to social group main sett), parental ages (Dam and Sire Age) and weights (Dam and Sire weight) in kilos, and size (number of adults) and sex ratio (proprtion male) of badgers natal group (Cub_SocG size, sex ratio) and that of their father's social group ( Sire_SocG Size, Sex Ratio)