Revisiting the phylogeography and demography of European badgers (Meles meles) based on broad sampling, multiple markers and simulations.
Although the phylogeography of European mammals has been extensively investigated since the 1990s, many studies were limited in terms of sampling distribution, the number of molecular markers used and the analytical techniques employed, frequently leading to incomplete postglacial recolonisation scenarios. The broad-scale genetic structure of the European badger (Meles meles) is of interest as it may result from historic restriction to glacial refugia and/or recent anthropogenic impact. However, previous studies were based mostly on samples from western Europe, making it difficult to draw robust conclusions about the location of refugia, patterns of postglacial expansion and recent demography. In the present study, continent-wide sampling and analyses with multiple markers provided evidence for two glacial refugia (Iberia and southeast Europe) that contributed to the genetic variation observed in badgers in Europe today. Approximate Bayesian computation provided support for a colonisation of Scandinavia from both Iberian and southeastern refugia. In the whole of Europe, we observed a decline in genetic diversity with increasing latitude, suggesting that the reduced diversity in the peripheral populations resulted from a postglacial expansion processes. Although MSVAR v.1.3 also provided evidence for recent genetic bottlenecks in some of these peripheral populations, the simulations performed to estimate the method's power to correctly infer the past demography of our empirical populations suggested that the timing and severity of bottlenecks could not be established with certainty. We urge caution against trying to relate demographic declines inferred using MSVAR with particular historic or climatological events.
1] NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK [2] Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
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AC
Frantz
School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
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McDevitt
School of Biological Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
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Pope
Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
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J
Kochan
Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
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J
Davison
NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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CF
Clements
Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Rønde, Denmark.
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Elmeros
Animal Biology Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
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Molina-Vacas
Department of Zoology, Biogeography and Population Dynamics Research Group, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
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Ruiz-Gonzalez
Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
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A
Balestrieri
Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Geraardsbergen, Belgium.
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K
Van Den Berge
Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Geraardsbergen, Belgium.
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P
Breyne
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.
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Do Linh San
National Veterinary Institute, Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, Uppsala, Sweden.
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EO
Agren
Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Suchentrunk
Administration de la nature et des forêts, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
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L
Schley
Mammal Research Institute, Bialowieza, Poland.
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Kowalczyk
Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
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BI
Kostka
Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
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D
Cirović
Department of Fisheries, Beekeeping, Game Management and Special Zoology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
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N
Sprem
CNRS, UMR 6553, ECOBIO, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
M
M
Colyn
Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy.
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M
Ghirardi
Balkani Wildlife Society, Sofia, Bulgaria.
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Racheva
9 chemin du Kilbs, Bischoffsheim, France.
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Braun
Departamento de Zoologia e Antropologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
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Oliveira
Department of Nature Conservation, University of Kaposvár, Kaposvár, Hungary.
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J
Lanszki
Domplatz 4, Halle/Saale, Germany.
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Stubbe
Domplatz 4, Halle/Saale, Germany.
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Stubbe
Institute of Forest Botany and Forest Zoology, Dresden University of Technology, Tharandt, Germany.
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N
Stier
NERC Biomolecular Analysis Facility, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
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Burke
D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008957:Models, Genetic; D045969:Mustelidae / Q000235:genetics*; D058974:Phylogeography; D011157:Population Dynamics
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial