BackgroundThe roe deer, Capreolus sp., is one of the most widespread meso-mammals of Palearctic distribution, and includes two species, the European roe deer, C. capreolus inhabiting mainly Europe, and the Siberian roe deer, C. pygargus, distributed throughout continental Asia. Although there are a number of genetic studies concerning European roe deer, the Siberian roe deer has been studied less, and none of these studies use microsatellite markers. Natural processes have led to genetic structuring in wild populations. To understand how these factors have affected genetic structure and connectivity of Siberian roe deer, we investigated variability at 12 microsatellite loci for Siberian roe deer from ten localities in Asia.ResultsModerate levels of genetic diversity (HE = 0.522 to 0.628) were found in all populations except in Jeju Island, South Korea, where the diversity was lowest (HE = 0.386). Western populations showed relatively low genetic diversity and higher degrees of genetic differentiation compared with eastern populations (mean Ar = 3.54 (east), 2.81 (west), mean FST = 0.122). Bayesian-based clustering analysis revealed the existence of three genetically distinct groups (clusters) for Siberian roe deer, which comprise of the Southeastern group (Mainland Korea, Russian Far East, Trans-Baikal region and Northern part of Mongolia), Northwestern group (Western Siberia and Ural in Russia) and Jeju Island population. Genetic analyses including AMOVA (FRT = 0.200), Barrier and PCA also supported genetic differentiation among regions separated primarily by major mountain ridges, suggesting that mountains played a role in the genetic differentiation of Siberian roe deer. On the other hand, genetic evidence also suggests an ongoing migration that may facilitate genetic admixture at the border areas between two groups.ConclusionsOur results reveal an apparent pattern of genetic differentiation among populations inhabiting Asia, showing moderate levels of genetic diversity with an east-west gradient. The results suggest at least three distinct management units of roe deer in continental Asia, although genetic admixture is evident in some border areas. The insights obtained from this study shed light on management of Siberian roe deer in Asia and may be applied in conservation of local populations of Siberian roe deer.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12863-015-0244-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Current understanding of phylogeographical structure and genetic diversity of Siberian roe deer remains limited mainly due to small sample size and/or low geographical coverage in previous studies. Published data suggest at least two phylogroups: western (Ural Mountains and Western Siberia) and eastern (east from lake Baikal, including the Korean peninsula), but their phylogenetic relationship remains unclear. Combined sequences of cytochrome b (1140 bp) and the mtDNA control region (963 bp) were analyzed from 219 Siberian roe deer from 12 locations in Russia, Mongolia, and South Korea, which cover a large part of its range, to assess genetic diversity and phylogeographical status. Special emphasis was placed on the demographic history and genetic features of central, peripheral, and isolated populations. Results of median‐joining network and phylogenetic tree analyses indicate that Siberian roe deer from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean are genetically diverse and that geographical distribution and composition of haplogroups coincide with previously described ranges of the subspecies Capreolus pygargus pygargus and Capreolus pygargus tianschanicus. We found that peripheral populations in the northwestern parts of the species range (Urals), as well as the isolated population from Jeju Island, are genetically distinct from those in the core part of the range, both in terms of genetic diversity and quantitative composition of haplogroups. We also found that northwestern (Urals) and northern (Yakutia) peripheral populations share the same haplogroup and fall into the same phylogenetic clade with the isolated population from Jeju Island. This finding sheds light on the taxonomic status of the Jeju Island population and leads to hypotheses about the discordance of morphological and genetic evolution in isolated populations and specific genetic features of peripheral populations.

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Data on the distribution of the Siberian roe deer in Yakutia in the past and at present are presented. The dynamics of the species range in the Holocene is considered. The ways of formation of the new range of Siberian roe deer in this region in the 20th century are analyzed. The structure of the range of this species in different ecological and geographical regions of Yakutia is discussed. Cases of occurrence of the Siberian roe deer in the subarctic zone are described.