Genetic rescue in an inbred Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population.

ABSTRACT: Isolation of small populations can reduce fitness through inbreeding depression and impede population growth. Outcrossing with only a few unrelated individuals can increase demographic and genetic viability substantially, but few studies have documented such genetic rescue in natural mammal populations. We investigate the effects of immigration in a subpopulation of the endangered Scandinavian arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), founded by six individuals and isolated for 9 years at an extremely small population size. Based on a long-term pedigree (105 litters, 543 individuals) combined with individual fitness traits, we found evidence for genetic rescue. Natural immigration and gene flow of three outbred males in 2010 resulted in a reduction in population average inbreeding coefficient (<

SUBMITTER: Hasselgren M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5897638 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature