The influence of gene flow on population viability in an isolated urban caracal population.

ABSTRACT: Wildlife populations are becoming increasingly fragmented by anthropogenic development. Small and isolated populations often face an elevated risk of extinction, in part due to inbreeding depression. Here, we examine the genomic consequences of urbanization in a caracal (Caracal caracal) population that has become isolated in the Cape Peninsula region of the City of Cape Town, South Africa, and is thought to number ~50 individuals. We document low levels of migration into the population over the past ~75 years, with an estimated rate of 1.3 effective migrants per generation. As a consequence of this isolation and small population size, levels of inbreeding are elevated in the contemporary Cape Peninsula population (mean F_ROH = 0.20). Inbreeding primarily manifests as long runs o

SUBMITTER: Kyriazis CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11035096 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature