Dispersal promotes high gene flow among Canada lynx populations across mainland North America

Abstract

The amount and extent of dispersal can have a large effect on the evolutionary trajectory, dynamics and structure of populations. Thus, understanding patterns of genetic structure provide information about the needs and approaches for population management and species conservation. To date studies addressing the population structure of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) have been surprisingly equivocal, despite a large amount of research quantifying population cyclicity and synchrony and the species' species at-risk status in the contiguous United States and eastern provinces of Canada. Here we use 17 microsatellite loci to conduct a large-scale genetic structuring assessment for Canada lynx, including most of its geographic range from Alaska to Newfoundland. We found large differentiation between lynx populations on the island of Newfoundland and those on the mainland. Yet, contrary to previous studies we found little genetic differentiation (F ST , D est , R ST ) owing to the Rocky Mountains, but some evidence of a subtle gene flow restriction between Ontario and Manitoba as previously proposed to be the result of a climatic barrier. Bayesian clustering analysis, however, only suggested two genetic clusters, one consisting of lynx from Newfoundland, and the other consisting of lynx from the rest of the North American range. Because Canada lynx are harvested for fur across most of their range, our results are informative for effective management strategies (e.g., defining management units) aimed at ensuring long-term population connectivity and species persistence.

Multiple crossings of a large glacial river by Canada Lynx (<em>Lynx canadensis</em>)

“…These observations suggest that even hazardous rivers in freezing conditions may not represent significant barriers to highly mobile mesocarnivores such as Canada Lynx and that foraging movements as well as dispersal that include river crossings may take place under such conditions. This ability to traverse apparent physical barriers is consistent with observations of long-distance dispersal capacity in the Canada Lynx (Mowat et al 2000) and the low level of genetic structure among Canada Lynx populations in northwestern North America (Rueness et al 2003;Row et al 2012).…”

Isolation of peripheral populations of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis)

“…1). The lynx from Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador presented by Row et al (2012Row et al ( , 2014 are a subset of what we present here. Furthermore, all lynx samples presented here are a subset of those reported in Koen et al (2014b).…”

“…We genotyped lynx at 14 microsatellite loci (Fca031,Fca035,Fca043,Fca077,Fca090,Fca096,Fca441,Fca391,Fca559,Lc106,Lc109,Lc110,Lc111,Lc118) according to methods described by Row et al (2012). We manually scored allele sizes using GeneMarker version 1.7 (Softgenetics, LLC., State College, Pennsylvania, USA).…”

Quantifying functional connectivity: The role of breeding habitat, abundance, and landscape features on range‐wide gene flow in sage‐grouse

“…Landscape predictors included features that could be managed through protection (e.g., percent sagebrush cover) and restoration (e.g., canopy cover, tilled agriculture) and those that would be impossible to manage but have existed as barriers or which have restricted movement for a longer period of time (e.g., terrain topology, measured by steepness and roughness). Environmental conditions can also limit dispersal (Row et al., 2012). Thus, we also included two relevant environmental predictors: Annual Drought Index and degree days above 5°C (Doherty et al., 2016).…”