Social organization in wild carnivores is mostly determined by patterns of family bonds,which may shape the degree of relatedness among individuals in the population.We studied kinship in a small and isolated populati...Social organization in wild carnivores is mostly determined by patterns of family bonds,which may shape the degree of relatedness among individuals in the population.We studied kinship in a small and isolated population of a solitary carnivore,the Eurasian lynx(Lynx lynx)to evaluate its effect on spatial distribution of individuals.We investigated the relationship between spatial location and pair-wise kinship among 28 lynx individuals identified in 2004-2011 by telemetry,non-invasive sampling and genotyping with the use of 12 autosomal microsatellites in the Białowieża Primeval Forest,Poland.The average relatedness of the lynx population was relatively low(Lynch and Ritland’s R=0.03).Females were significantly more related to each other than males with other males.The inferred pedigree showed that the population was dominated by only 2 familial groups.We did not find significant correlations between the relatedness and the extent of home range overlap or the straight-line distances between the home ranges’central points.These results suggest that the dynamics of kinship in this solitary felid may not differ from the random mating processes described in social carnivores.Although the chances of random mating could be limited to a few resident males and females,the presence of unrelated floaters may provide a“breeding buffer”that may prevent an increase of relatedness and likely inbreeding in the population.This system is likely to fail in preserving genetic diversity in small,highly isolated populations;therefore,restoring habitat connectivity is crucial to ensure sufficient immigration from neighboring populations.展开更多
基金The study was financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education(grant no.3P04F 01924)Permission for lynx trapping was issued by the Ministry of Environment.Trapping,handling and radio-tracking procedures were approved by the National Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments(no.DB/KKE/PL-110/2001).
文摘Social organization in wild carnivores is mostly determined by patterns of family bonds,which may shape the degree of relatedness among individuals in the population.We studied kinship in a small and isolated population of a solitary carnivore,the Eurasian lynx(Lynx lynx)to evaluate its effect on spatial distribution of individuals.We investigated the relationship between spatial location and pair-wise kinship among 28 lynx individuals identified in 2004-2011 by telemetry,non-invasive sampling and genotyping with the use of 12 autosomal microsatellites in the Białowieża Primeval Forest,Poland.The average relatedness of the lynx population was relatively low(Lynch and Ritland’s R=0.03).Females were significantly more related to each other than males with other males.The inferred pedigree showed that the population was dominated by only 2 familial groups.We did not find significant correlations between the relatedness and the extent of home range overlap or the straight-line distances between the home ranges’central points.These results suggest that the dynamics of kinship in this solitary felid may not differ from the random mating processes described in social carnivores.Although the chances of random mating could be limited to a few resident males and females,the presence of unrelated floaters may provide a“breeding buffer”that may prevent an increase of relatedness and likely inbreeding in the population.This system is likely to fail in preserving genetic diversity in small,highly isolated populations;therefore,restoring habitat connectivity is crucial to ensure sufficient immigration from neighboring populations.
