Contrasting genetic trajectories of endangered and expanding red fox populations in the western U.S.

ABSTRACT: As anthropogenic disturbances continue to drive habitat loss and range contractions, the maintenance of evolutionary processes will increasingly require targeting measures to the population level, even for common and widespread species. Doing so requires detailed knowledge of population genetic structure, both to identify populations of conservation need and value, as well as to evaluate suitability of potential donor populations. We conducted a range-wide analysis of the genetic structure of red foxes in the contiguous western U.S., including a federally endangered distinct population segment of the Sierra Nevada subspecies, with the objectives of contextualizing field observations of relative scarcity in the Pacific mountains and increasing abundance in the cold desert basins of the Inte

SUBMITTER: Quinn CB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9338314 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature