Dietary Differentiation and the Evolution of Population Genetic Structure in a Highly Mobile Carnivore

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2012 Jul 7

PMID 22768075

Citations 15

Authors

Malgorzata Pilot

Wlodzimierz Jedrzejewski

Vadim E Sidorovich

Wolfram Meier-Augenstein

A Rus Hoelzel

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Recent studies on highly mobile carnivores revealed cryptic population genetic structures correlated to transitions in habitat types and prey species composition. This led to the hypothesis that natal-habitat-biased dispersal may be responsible for generating population genetic structure. However, direct evidence for the concordant ecological and genetic differentiation between populations of highly mobile mammals is rare. To address this we analyzed stable isotope profiles (δ(13)C and δ(15)N values) for Eastern European wolves (Canis lupus) as a quantifiable proxy measure of diet for individuals that had been genotyped in an earlier study (showing cryptic genetic structure), to provide a quantitative assessment of the relationship between individual foraging behavior and genotype. We found a significant correlation between genetic distances and dietary differentiation (explaining 46% of the variation) in both the marginal test and crucially, when geographic distance was accounted for as a co-variable. These results, interpreted in the context of other possible mechanisms such as allopatry and isolation by distance, reinforce earlier studies suggesting that diet and associated habitat choice are influencing the structuring of populations in highly mobile carnivores.

Citing Articles

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Large variance in inbreeding within the Iberian wolf population.

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Cryptic population structure reveals low dispersal in Iberian wolves.

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