We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Genetic Structure of the French Red Squirrel Populations: Implication for Conservation.
- Authors
Dozières, Anne; Chapuis, Jean-Louis; Thibault, Sophie; Baudry, Emmanuelle
- Abstract
The decline of the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in several European countries due to the introduction of the American grey squirrel (S. carolinensis) and the predicted arrival of the grey squirrel in France in the near future has lead to the development of a preventative conservation project in this country. In this study, we conducted an extensive survey of mitochondrial DNA variation in French red squirrels using a fragment of the mitochondrial D-loop and we compared the results with previously published data from other European populations. Our main aims were: (1) to determine whether genetically differentiated populations, which could represent prioritized units for conservation purposes, were present in France and (2) to determine whether the French population, which is currently largely undisturbed, could provide information on the postglacial recolonization history of the species. We found that French D-loop haplotypes show almost no tendency to cluster by geographic origin, be it region or country, suggesting that French red squirrels have not been isolated from other populations during an evolutionarily significant period and that they do not constitute an Evolutionary Significant Unit. The French red squirrels showed strong signals of population expansion, the opposite to what is observed in most other European populations, making them of particular interest to study the postglacial expansion history of the species.
- Subjects
FRANCE; EURASIAN red squirrel; SCIURIDAE; MITOCHONDRIAL DNA; TAMIASCIURUS; HAPLOTYPES
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2012, Vol 7, Issue 10, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0047607