Relationships between allozymes, heterozygosity and morphological characters in red deer (Cervus elaphus), and the influence of selective hunting on allele frequency distributions

Abstract

Morphological characters in red deer ( Cervus elaphus), which serve as criteria for selective hunting, were examined in relation to electrophoretic variation in three populations from the Vosges in eastern France. From the polymorphic loci examined, certain alleles at Idh-2, Me-i and Acp-i showed significant associations with a special development of body and antler characters selected for by hunters. Idh-2'25 was associated with larger hind foot length in females and a higher number of antler points in males. Me-19° and Acp-1'°° were associated with small spikes. The populations studied differed from one another in the duration and intensity of selective hunting and the increase or decrease in the respective allele frequencies could be explained by selection for large body size, a high number of antler points and against small spikes in yearlings, rather than by genetic drift. Among other morphological characters examined, the length of the main beam was significantly associated with the allele Acp-2'°°. In contrast, no associations could be detected between overall heterozygosity and the development or the degree of asymmetry (in paired structures) of any of the morphological traits in question. Although no obvious differences in the overall values of polymorphism or heterozygosity were found between the populations, selective hunting leads towards a change in allele frequencies and eventually to the loss of one or the other rare allele.

Fluctuating asymmetry and genetic variability in the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus): a test of the developmental stability hypothesis in mammals using neutral molecular markers

“…It is noteworthy that most of the studies yielding a negative correlation between developmental instability (as measured by FA) and genetic variability were carried out on poikilotherms using nonmetric traits (e.g., Vrijenhoek and Lerman, 1982;Leary et al, 1983b; but see, e.g., Hosken et al (2000) and Réale and Roff (2003) for no such correlation with metric traits), whereas for homeotherms (for which FA is mostly quantified by metric traits, see Discussion section) no such relationship was found in the majority of cases (e.g., Hartl et al, 1991;Sert et al, 2005; for a review see Novak et al, 1993). In line with this, a meta-analysis conducted by Vllestad et al (1999) yielded the tendency of a positive association between FA and heterozygosity in homeotherms and the tendency of a negative association for poikilotherms whereas altogether there was 'only a weak association between heterozygosity and FA' (Vllestad et al, 1999, page no.…”

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

“…This is just the pattern expected among populations subject to physical isolation and regular introductions from diverse source populations. However, few studies have been able to compare the effects of different management practices on population genetic structure across unfragmented or unfenced habitat in vertebrate game species (although see Hartl et al, 1991).…”

Genetic variability and differentiation in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L) of Central Europe

“…However, in contrast to the red deer (Bergmann, 1976;Kleymann, 1976a, b); Bergmann and Moser, 1985;Pemberton et al, 1988;Hartl et al, 1990aHartl et al, , 1991, the fallow deer (Pemberton and Smith, 1985;; Randi and Apollonio, 1988; Herzog, 1989), the moose (Ryman et al, 1977(Ryman et al, , 1980(Ryman et al, , 1981Reuterwall, 1980), the reindeer (R 0 ed et al, 1985;Røed, 1985aRøed, , b, 1986Røed, , 1987 and the white-tailed deer (Manlove et al, 1975(Manlove et al, , 1976Baccus et al, 1977;Johns et al, 1977;Ramsey et al, 1979;Chesser et al, 1982;Smith et al, 1983;Sheffield et al, 1985;Breshears et al, 1988) the factors influencing the amount and distribution of biochemical genetic variation in one of the most abundant European deer species, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), are only poorly understood.…”