Demographic histories and genetic diversities of Fennoscandian marine and landlocked ringed seal subspecies.

ABSTRACT: Island populations are on average smaller, genetically less diverse, and at a higher risk to go extinct than mainland populations. Low genetic diversity may elevate extinction probability, but the genetic component of the risk can be affected by the mode of diversity loss, which, in turn, is connected to the demographic history of the population. Here, we examined the history of genetic erosion in three Fennoscandian ringed seal subspecies, of which one inhabits the Baltic Sea 'mainland' and two the 'aquatic islands' composed of Lake Saimaa in Finland and Lake Ladoga in Russia. Both lakes were colonized by marine seals after their formation c. 9500 years ago, but Lake Ladoga is larger and more contiguous than Lake Saimaa. All three populations suffered dramatic declines during the 20th cen

SUBMITTER: Nyman T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4228616 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature