title: North-South differentiation and a region of high diversity in European wolves (Canis lupus).
abstract: European wolves (Canis lupus) show population genetic structure in the absence of geographic barriers, and across relatively short distances for this highly mobile species. Additional information on the location of and divergence between population clusters is required, particularly because wolves are currently recolonizing parts of Europe. We evaluated genetic structure in 177 wolves from 11 countries using over 67K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. The results supported previous findings of an isolated Italian population with lower genetic diversity than that observed across other areas of Europe. Wolves from the remaining countries were primarily structured in a north-south axis, with Croatia, Bulgaria, and Greece (Dinaric-Balkan) differentiated from northcentral wolves that included individuals from Finland, Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Russia. Carpathian Mountain wolves in central Europe had genotypes intermediate between those identified in northcentral Europe and the Dinaric-Balkan cluster. Overall, individual genotypes from northcentral Europe suggested high levels of admixture. We observed high diversity within Belarus, with wolves from western and northern Belarus representing the two most differentiated groups within northcentral Europe. Our results support the presence of at least three major clusters (Italy, Carpathians, Dinaric-Balkan) in southern and central Europe. Individuals from Croatia also appeared differentiated from wolves in Greece and Bulgaria. Expansion from glacial refugia, adaptation to local environments, and human-related factors such as landscape fragmentation and frequent killing of wolves in some areas may have contributed to the observed patterns. Our findings can help inform conservation management of these apex predators and the ecosystems of which they are part.
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland.
authors.forename: Astrid V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Stronen
authors.forename: Bogumiła
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jędrzejewska
authors.forename: Cino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pertoldi
authors.forename: Ditte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demontis
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Randi
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niedziałkowska
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pilot
authors.forename: Vadim E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Sidorovich
authors.forename: Ihor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dykyy
authors.forename: Josip
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kusak
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tsingarska
authors.forename: Ilpo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kojola
authors.forename: Alexandros A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Karamanlidis
authors.forename: Aivars
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ornicans
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Lobkov
authors.forename: Vitalii
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dumenko
authors.forename: Sylwia D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Czarnomska
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005060:Europe; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D019596:Wolves / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers