Abstract

The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a Holarctic species found in North America primarily across the boreal forest, the subarctic, and along the Pacific coast, including Vancouver Island (VI), British Columbia. While wolverines on VI are rare and possibly extirpated, they have been previously described as a unique subspecies, G. g. vancouverensis, distinct from G. g. luscus from the mainland of North America. However, the validity of the VI subspecies is contentious, with conflicting results from studies of skull morphology. Here, we used molecular analyses to characterize the genetic diversity of the VI population and resolve this taxonomic debate to assist with conservation priorities. Historical DNA of VI wolverines was obtained from museum specimens, amplified at 16 nuclear microsatellite loci, and sequenced at the mitochondrial D-loop control region to compare with wolverines from mainland British Columbia. The VI population had lower allelic richness and was fixed for a single common mtDNA haplotype. Bayesian and non-Bayesian assignments using microsatellites generally revealed admixture across populations, implying allele frequencies between the VI and mainland populations were not significantly different. Hence, both types of genetic markers showed little evolutionary divergence between VI and the mainland population. Combined, these results do not provide evidence of significant genetic distinction for VI wolverines, nor support the subspecific classification. Immediate conservation efforts should focus on estimating population size, while future conservation planning can assume VI wolverines likely are not a unique genetic population and there remains the potential for natural recolonization of wolverines to VI.

中文翻译：

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使用历史 DNA 表征难以捉摸的温哥华岛狼獾 Gulo gulo vancouverensis

摘要

狼獾 ( Gulo gulo ) 是北美洲的一种全北极物种，主要分布在北方森林、亚北极和太平洋沿岸，包括不列颠哥伦比亚省的温哥华岛 (VI)。虽然 VI 上的狼獾很少见并且可能已经灭绝，但它们之前曾被描述为一个独特的亚种G. g. vancouverensis，不同于G. g. 卢斯库斯来自北美大陆。然而，VI 亚种的有效性是有争议的，头骨形态研究的结果相互矛盾。在这里，我们使用分子分析来表征 VI 种群的遗传多样性，并解决这一分类学争论以协助保护优先事项。VI 狼獾的历史 DNA 是从博物馆标本中获得的，在 16 个核微卫星基因座上进行扩增，并在线粒体 D 环控制区进行测序，以与来自不列颠哥伦比亚省大陆的狼獾进行比较。VI 群体具有较低的等位基因丰富度，并且固定为单个常见的 mtDNA 单倍型。使用微卫星的贝叶斯和非贝叶斯分配通常显示不同种群的混合，这意味着 VI 和大陆种群之间的等位基因频率没有显着差异。因此，两种类型的遗传标记在 VI 和大陆种群之间几乎没有进化差异。综合起来，这些结果并未提供 VI 狼獾显着遗传差异的证据，也不支持亚种分类。立即的保护工作应侧重于估计种群规模，而未来的保护计划可以假设 VI 狼獾可能不是一个独特的遗传种群，并且仍有可能将狼獾自然重新定殖为 VI。