Microsatellite genotypes, cluster membership and metadata of Central European wolves (Canis lupus)

Local extinction and recolonization events can shape genetic structure of
subdivided animal populations. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was extirpated
from most of Europe, but recently recolonized big part of its historical
range. An exceptionally dynamic expansion of wolf population is observed
in the western part of the Great European Plain. Nonetheless, genetic
consequences of this process have not yet been fully understood. We aimed
to assess genetic diversity of this recently established wolf population
in Western Poland (WPL), determine its origin and provide novel data
regarding the population genetic structure of the grey wolf in Central
Europe. We utilized both spatially explicit and non-explicit Bayesian
clustering approaches, as well as a model-independent, multivariate method
DAPC, to infer genetic structure in large dataset of wolf
microsatellite genotypes. To put the patterns observed in studied
population into a broader biogeographic context we also analyzed a mtDNA
control region fragment widely used in previous studies. In comparison to
a source population, we found slightly reduced allelic richness and
heterozygosity in the newly recolonized areas west of the Vistula river.
We discovered relatively strong west-east structuring in lowland wolves,
probably reflecting founder-flush and allele surfing during range
expansion, resulting in clear distinction of WPL, eastern lowland and
Carpathian genetic groups. Interestingly, wolves from recently recolonized
mountainous areas (Sudetes Mts, SW Poland) clustered together with
lowland, but not Carpathian wolf populations. We also identified an area
in Central Poland that seems to be a melting pot of western, lowland
eastern and Carpathian wolves. We conclude that the process of dynamic
recolonization of Central European lowlands lead to the formation of a
new, genetically distinct wolf population. Together with the settlement
and establishment of packs in mountains by lowland wolves and vice versa,
it suggests that demographic dynamics and possibly anthropogenic barriers
rather than ecological factors (e.g. natal habitat-biased dispersal
patterns) shape the current wolf genetic structure in Central Europe.