Crossing the border? Structure of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) population from the Bavarian–Bohemian forest ecosystem

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAnthropogenic impact such as overhunting and habitat fragmentation has reduced the total red deer population (Cervus elaphus) across Europe. In Germany remaining subpopulations are even confined to designated areas with limited or no gene flow among them. Red deer populations inhabiting the Bavarian-Bohemian forest ecosystem had been divided by a fortified State border between Germany and former Czechoslovakia. To assess red deer genetic diversity more than two decades after the removal of the fortifications, we analysed a population from the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany, and one from the National ParkŠumava, Czech Republic, using 11 microsatellite loci and a 910 bp long section of the mitochondrial control region (mtDNA). Bayesian analyses of microsatellite allele frequencies favoured the presence of a single population in the Bavarian-Bohemian forest ecosystem over other population genetic structures. This admixture was supported by a lack of population pairwise differentiation between German and Czech red deer microsatellite genotypes in the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA, F ST = 0.009, p = 0.383). Contrastingly, AMOVA revealed a highly significant matrilinear differentiation of mtDNA between the two samples (˚S T = 0.285, p = 0.002), whereby German red deer belonged predominantly to haplogroup A (western Europe) and Czech red deer predominantly to haplogroup C (eastern Europe). In combination, these findings indicated a high degree of philopatry by does and extensive gene flow across the former border mediated by stags. They also identified the Bavarian-Bohemian forest ecosystem as part of a suture zone between western and eastern European red deer matrilines.

Reconstructing the history of a fragmented and heavily exploited red deer population using ancient and contemporary DNA

“…Out of the ten haplotypes found in the ancient Norwegian dataset five are shared with other countries. Of these, the two central haplotypes NO1 and NO4 are widespread, being present in Scotland and the border forests between Germany and the Czech Republic [14,23,25], with NO4 also found in Spain [14], and NO1 being one of the most common types found in the Scottish highlands today [25]. None of the extant Norwegian haplotypes are shared with other Scandinavian countries; although the ancient NO6 is found in Denmark today [27].…”

“…The age of the samples range from the Mesolithic to the Late Middle Ages (c. 7,000-500 yr BP) and all samples were collected from the University Museum of Bergen. Data on contemporary Norwegian and European mtDNA diversity were compiled from the literature ( [14,23-29], Haanes et al . unpublished results), excluding sequences from populations described by authors as translocated by humans during the last centuries.…”

The relevance of time series in molecular ecology and conservation biology

“…The mountain white-eye (Zosterops poliogaster) inhabits both of these habitats, and genetic data from this species reflect the divergent habitat histories of these now similar habitat structures. Fickel et al (2012) found that only 20 years (or roughly three generations) after the fall of the Iron Curtain, panmixia was re-established in red deer (Cervus elaphus) from the Bavarian-Bohemian forest ecosystem. By contrast, the Taita Hills population sampled at different time points over the past 20 years shows a strong increase in genetic differentiation among local subpopulations (Habel et al, in press).…”

Genetic structure in Elk persists after translocation

“…Pérez‐González et al () reported genetic structure in free‐ranging red deer in Spain based on fragmented habitats. Fickel et al () looked at genetic structure of red deer populations 20 years after a border was removed from Germany and the former Czechoslovakia. They collected genetic data after populations were once again connected.…”