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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2282/352
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| Title: | Mitochondrial phylogeography of the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber L. |
| Authors: | Durka, Walter
Babik, Wieslaw
Ducroz, Jean-Francois
Heidecke, Dietrich
Rosell, Frank
Samjaa, Ravcigijn
Saveljev, Alexander P.
Stubbe, Annegret
Ulevicius, Alius
Stubbe, Michael |
| Issue Date: | 2005 |
| Publishers version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02704.x |
| Abstract: | Nucleotide variation in an approximately 490 bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control
region (mtDNA CR) was used to describe the genetic variation and phylogeographical
pattern in the Eurasian beaver (
Castor fiber
) over its entire range. The sampling effort was
focused on the relict populations that survived a drastic population bottleneck, caused by
overhunting, at the end of the 19th century. A total of 152 individuals grouped into eight
populations representing all currently recognized subspecies were studied. Sixteen haplotypes
were detected, none of them shared among populations. Intrapopulation sequence
variation was very low, most likely a result of the severe bottleneck. Extreme genetic structure
could result from human-mediated extinction of intermediate populations, but it could also
be an effect of prior substantial structuring of the beaver populations with watersheds
of major Eurasian rivers acting as barriers to gene flow. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the
presence of two mtDNA lineages: eastern (Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Mongolia) and
western (Germany, Norway and France), the former comprising more divergent haplotypes.
The low level of sequence divergence of the entire cytochrome
b
gene among six individuals
representing six subspecies suggests differentiation during the last glacial period and
existence of multiple glacial refugia. At least two evolutionary significant units (ESU) can
be identified, the western and the eastern haplogroup. The individual relict populations
should be regarded as management units, the eastern subspecies possibly also as ESUs.
Guidelines for future translocations and reintroductions are proposed. |
| Keywords: | Beavers
Bottleneck
Conservation
Control region
Genetic variation
Mitochondrial DNA
Phylogeography |
| Publisher: | Blackwell |
| Document type: | Journal article |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2282/352 |
| Appears in Collections: | Institutt for natur-, helse- og miljøvernfag
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