Background

Reduction of genetic diversity can lead to reduced fitness of species, such as the loss of adaptability to changing environments. The native Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) was hunted to extinction from Finland and many other countries in Europe in the nineteenth century. In Finland, the species was re-introduced in the 1930s with only a few individuals from Norway. Re-introductions were performed also in other countries of northern Europe and as a result, Eurasian beaver populations have undergone population bottlenecks leading to low levels of genetic diversity.

Materials and Methods

Here, 200 Eurasian beaver samples from Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russian Karelia were investigated using 12 microsatellite markers to examine the level of genetic diversity and relationship between the populations.

Results

While Russian and Estonian populations were genetically the closest, the Finnish population was clearly distinct from all others and had the lowest genetic variability among the study populations. This may be deleterious to the population especially in a changing environment.

Conclusions

Genetic rescue could be the best solution to increase the genetic diversity and improve the future prospects of the population, although more studies are required to resolve the optimal source population.

中文翻译：

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芬兰重新引入的欧亚海狸（蓖麻纤维）种群的低遗传多态性：对保护的意义

背景

遗传多样性的减少会导致物种的适应性下降，例如丧失对不断变化的环境的适应性。十九世纪，从芬兰和欧洲许多其他国家/地区猎杀了原生的欧亚海狸（蓖麻纤维）。在芬兰，该物种于1930年代重新引入，只有少数来自挪威的个体。在北欧其他国家也进行了重新引进，结果，欧亚海狸种群经历了种群瓶颈，导致遗传多样性水平低下。

材料和方法

在这里，使用12个微卫星标记对200个来自芬兰，爱沙尼亚，立陶宛和俄罗斯卡累利阿的欧亚海狸样本进行了调查，以检验遗传多样性水平和种群之间的关系。

结果

尽管俄罗斯和爱沙尼亚人口在遗传上最接近，但芬兰人口显然与所有其他人口不同，并且在研究人群中遗传变异性最低。这可能对居民有害，尤其是在不断变化的环境中。

结论

遗传拯救可能是增加遗传多样性和改善种群未来前景的最佳解决方案，尽管需要更多的研究来解决最佳来源种群。