title: Spatial assessment of wolf-dog hybridization in a single breeding period.
abstract: Understanding the dynamics of wolf-dog hybridization and delineating evidence-based conservation strategies requires information on the spatial extent of wolf-dog hybridization in real-time, which remains largely unknown. We collected 332 wolf-like scats over ca. 5,000km2in the NW Iberian Peninsula to evaluate wolf-dog hybridization at population level in a single breeding/pup-rearing season. Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) and 18 ancestry informative markers were used for species and individual identification, and to detect wolf-dog hybrids. Genetic relatedness was assessed between hybrids and wolves. We identified 130 genotypes, including 67 wolves and 7 hybrids. Three of the hybrids were backcrosses to dog whereas the others were backcrosses to wolf, the latter accounting for a 5.6% rate of introgression into the wolf population. Our results show a previously undocumented scenario of multiple and widespread wolf-dog hybridization events at the population level. However, there is a clear maintenance of wolf genetic identity, as evidenced by the sharp genetic identification of pure individuals, suggesting the resilience of wolf populations to a small amount of hybridization. We consider that real-time population level assessments of hybridization provide a new perspective into the debate on wolf conservation, with particular focus on current management guidelines applied in wolf-dog hybridization events.
authors.affiliation: CIBIO/InBio - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s ⁄n. 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.affiliation: Research Unit of Biodiversity, University of Oviedo, 33600, Mieres, Spain.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: López-Bao
authors.affiliation: A.RE.NA, Asesores en Recursos Naturales, S.L, 27003 Lugo, Spain.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Fuentes Amarelle 6, 15130, Corcubion A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Lema
authors.affiliation: A.RE.NA, Asesores en Recursos Naturales, S.L, 27003 Lugo, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Llaneza
authors.affiliation: A.RE.NA, Asesores en Recursos Naturales, S.L, 27003 Lugo, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.affiliation: CIBIO/InBio - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.|Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s ⁄n. 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Godinho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D044822:Biodiversity; D001947:Breeding; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004285:Dogs; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D019596:Wolves
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial