Contrasting genetic trajectories of endangered and expanding red fox populations in the western U.S.

As anthropogenic disturbances continue to drive habitat loss and range contractions, the maintenance of evolutionary processes will increasingly require targeting measures to the population level, even for common and widespread species. Doing so requires detailed knowledge of population genetic structure, both to identify populations of conservation need and value, as well as to evaluate suitability of potential donor populations. We conducted a range-wide analysis of the genetic structure of red foxes in the contiguous western U.S. with the objectives of contextualizing field observations of relative scarcity in the Pacific mountains and increasing abundance in the cold desert basins of the Intermountain West. Using 31 autosomal microsatellites, along with mitochondrial and Y-chromosome markers, we found that populations of the Pacific mountains were isolated from one another and genetically depauperate (e.g., estimated Ne range = 3–9). In contrast, red foxe s in the Intermountain regi...随着人为干扰持续引发栖息地丧失与分布范围缩减，维持物种演化进程的保护举措将愈发需要以种群为单位实施精准施策，即便对于广布常见物种亦不例外。要达成这一目标，需掌握种群遗传结构的详细信息，既可用于甄别具备保护价值与保护需求的种群，亦能评估潜在供体种群的适宜性。本研究针对美国本土连片西部区域的赤狐开展全分布区遗传结构分析，旨在阐明太平洋山脉内赤狐相对稀缺、西部山间寒冷荒漠盆地内赤狐种群丰度攀升的野外观测结果的背景信息。本研究使用31个常染色体微卫星标记（autosomal microsatellites），辅以线粒体标记（mitochondrial markers）与Y染色体标记（Y-chromosome markers），结果显示太平洋山脉内的赤狐种群彼此相互隔离，且遗传多样性匮乏（例如估算有效种群大小Ne的范围为3~9）。与之形成鲜明对比的是，西部山间区域的赤狐……