Complex patterns of population genetic structure of moose, Alces alces, after recent spatial expansion in Poland revealed by sex-linked markers

Abstract

In recent years, human activity directly and indirectly influenced the demography of moose in Poland. The species was close to extinction, and only a few isolated populations survived after the Second World War; then, unprecedented demographic and spatial expansions had occurred, possibly generating a very complex pattern of population genetic structure at the present-day margins of the species range in Poland. Over 370 moose from seven populations were collected from Poland, and partial sequences of the mitochondrial control region (mtDNA-cr; 607 bp) were obtained. In addition, the entire mtDNA cytochrome b gene (1,140 bp) and Y-chromosome markers (1,982 bp in total) were studied in a chosen set of individuals. Twelve mtDNA haplotypes that all belonged to the European moose phylogroup were recorded. They could be divided into two distinct clades: Central Europe and the Ural Mountains. The first clade consists of three distinct groups/branches: Biebrza, Polesie, and Fennoscandia. The Biebrza group has experienced spatial and demographic expansion in the recent past. Average genetic differentiation among moose populations in Poland at mtDNA-cr was great and significant (ΦST = 0.407, p < 0.001). Using mtDNA-cr data, four separate groups of population were recognized using spatial analysis of molecular variance and principal coordinate analysis, including a relict population in Biebrza National Park, a reintroduced Kampinos National Park population, as well as populations that were descendants of moose that colonized Poland from the east (Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine) and the north (former East Prussia). Among all the sequenced Y-chromosome markers, polymorphisms were found in the DBY14 marker in three populations only; four haplotypes were recorded in total. No significant differentiation was detected for this Y-linked marker among moose populations in Poland. Our mtDNA study revealed that a variety of different factors—bottleneck, the presence of relict, autochthonous populations, translocations, limited female dispersal, and the colonization from the east and north—are responsible for the observed complex pattern of population genetic structure after demographic and spatial expansion of moose in Poland.

Diverse rates of gene flow and long-distance migration in two moose Alces alces subpopulations in Europe

“…5 First-generation migrants amongst six moose groups indicated by analyses of microsatellite DNA (see Niedziałkowska et al 2016), as calculated in GENECLASS result of the different evolutionary demographic history of this moose group compared to individuals from other surrounding study sites and the location of this deme on the western edge of moose range in Europe, was reported earlier by Świsłocka et al (2008, 2013, 2015) and Niedziałkowska et al (2014Niedziałkowska et al ( , 2016. Although there are no significant topographic barriers for moose in this region, and there is a high level of admixture in this deme (Świsłocka et al 2008, 2013Niedziałkowska et al 2016, this study), the emigration rate is much higher than the immigration rate to this local population (Świsłocka et al 2015). This could be explained by higher densities of moose in the Biebrza River Valley than in the surrounding areas (Wawrzyniak et al 2010).…”

Evidence of post‐glacial secondary contact and subsequent anthropogenic influence on the genetic composition of Fennoscandian moose (Alces alces)

“…tcs 1.21 (Clement et al ., ) was used to draw a haplotype network, combining our data with all published sequence information (at the same mtDNA region) on Palaearctic moose (Hundertmark et al ., ; Hassanin et al ., ; Świsłocka et al ., ; Kholodova et al ., ; Niedziałkowska et al ., ). We used dnasp 5.0 (Librado & Rozas, ) to calculate p ‐distances between the two mtDNA clades detected in our data (see ) and estimated the time of divergence by applying divergence rates of 62.8% (domestic cattle, Bos taurus ; Bradley et al ., ) and 78.5% per million years (bison, Bison bonasus ; Burzyńska et al ., ).…”

“…Despite consisting of large populations with more or less continuous distributions, contemporary European moose populations are genetically structured. This differentiation has been variously explained with ancient and/or more recent events (Charlier et al ., ; Haanes et al ., ; Świsłocka et al ., ). Moreover, significant spatial genetic structure has been detected within the Finnish moose population (Kangas et al ., ; Niedziałkowska et al ., ), although the exact location(s) of subpopulation boundaries and the levels of admixture remain unclear.…”

Divergent functional traits in three sympatric Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus morphs are not coupled with the age of the lineage divergence

“…Kang et al, 2013;Swislocka et al, 2013). In some systems, it is clear that such structuring has arisen quickly and relatively recently (Gislason et al, 1999;Garduño-Paz et al, 2012).…”