2014) described the genetic structure among red fox populations over wide geographical areas and revealed a pattern of weak genetic structure, highlighting the adaptability and dispersal potential of red foxes. Several studies using microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA (Oishi et al. The highest level of differentiation was found between the urban populations either side of a river, but there was evidence of gene flow between urban and rural populations. ( 2003) analyzed patterns of differentiation at microsatellites between fox populations in and around the city of Zürich, Switzerland. Studies of the genetic structure of fox populations have yielded valuable insights into the behavioral and spatial ecology of foxes (Wandeler et al. Population expansion and the colonization of several European towns and cities in the last century has prompted concerns about the transmission of parasitic and viral diseases such as rabies and the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis to humans and companion animals (Chautan et al. The red fox Vulpes vulpes has the largest contemporary range of any carnivore species, with a native range that covers most of the temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere (MacDonald and Reynolds 2008). 2013) and aid in identifying key environmental metrics for constructing objective landscape resistance surfaces (Shafer et al. In recent years, landscape genetic studies have begun to incorporate telemetry data from a variety of fitted collars (radio, GPS, etc.) that more accurately reflect dispersal and movement across the landscape (McDevitt et al. Studies using landscape resistance models have often lacked empirical data and instead relied heavily upon expert opinion to identify habitat variables important to resistance (Spear et al. 2013) but is also particularly relevant for widespread species capable of spreading disease to both humans and animals closely associated with them (Biek and Real 2010). An understanding of the potential limiting factors on the landscape for movement and gene flow between populations is important for conservation purposes (Sommer et al. Larger terrestrial mammals with higher dispersal capabilities may be expected to be less perturbed by geographic distances but may be more limited by the landscape matrix separating putative populations. It has been well established that landscape features affect the dispersal ability of animals and therefore impact upon gene flow and the genetic structure of populations (Manel et al. Gene flow between populations or groups of animals is dictated by a multitude of internal (i.e., vagility/dispersal) and external (i.e., landscape and environmental features) factors (Pérez-Espona et al. These types of habitats may influence dispersal paths taken by red foxes, which is useful information in terms of wildlife disease management. There was a significant relationship between genetic distance and the proportion of large forests and water along the Euclidean distances. However, there was no correlation between genetic distance and either Euclidean distance or least-cost path distance at the population level. Spatial autocorrelation among all individuals showed a pattern of decreasing relatedness with increasing distance and this was not significantly negative until 93 km, indicating a pattern of isolation-by-distance over a large area. Genetic differentiation between the six studied populations was low to moderate and analysis in Structure revealed a panmictic population in the region. We tested 22 microsatellite loci isolated from the dog and the red fox genome to select a panel of nine polymorphic loci suitable for this study.
In this study, we have described the genetic diversity and structure of red fox populations in six areas of north-eastern Poland, based on samples collected from 2002–2003. Because it carries diseases that can be transmitted to humans and domestic animals, it is important to gather information about their movements and dispersal in their natural habitat but it is difficult to do so at a broad scale with trapping and telemetry. The red fox ( Vulpes vulpes) has the widest global distribution among terrestrial carnivore species, occupying most of the Northern Hemisphere in its native range.
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