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Genetic structure and expansion of golden jackals (Canis aureus) in the north-western distribution range (Croatia and eastern Italian Alps)

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Abstract

The golden jackal, widely distributed in Europe, Asia and Africa, is one of the less studied carnivores in the world and the genetic structure of the European populations is unknown. In the last century jackals strongly declined mainly due to human persecution, but recently they expanded again in eastern Europe. With the aim to determine the genetic structure and the origin of expanding jackals, we analyzed population samples obtained from Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia (Dalmatia and Slavonia) and individuals sampled in north-eastern Italy. Samples were typed at the hypervariable part of the mitochondrial DNA control-region (mtDNA CR1) and at 15 canine autosomal microsatellite loci (STR), and analyzed using multivariate, Bayesian and landscape genetic methods. The mtDNA CR1 was monomorphic, showing a single haplotype shared among all the populations. The STR loci were variable, with 2–14 alleles and intermediate values of heterozygosity (Ho = 0.47; He = 0.51). Genetic diversity was significantly partitioned (θST = 0.07; P < 0.001) and the populations were partially distinct, perhaps in consequence of recent fragmentations. Jackals from Dalmatia were the most genetically differentiated. Assignment testing and gene flow analyses suggested that jackals colonizing Italy have admixed origins from Dalmatian and Slavonian populations. They are not first generation migrants, suggesting that dispersal towards north-eastern Italy is a stepping-stone process. Golden jackal and wolf colonization patterns might be different, with prevalent short-distance dispersal in jackals versus prevalent long distance dispersal in wolves. The admixed origin of jackals in the Alps ensures abundant genetic variability, which may enhance adaptive fitness and expectancy of population growth. The intersections between Dinaric–Balkan and Eastern Alps are areas of population expansion and admixture, highlighting their conservation, ecological and evolutionary values.

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Acknowledgments

We warmly thank everybody who made it possible to realize this research project, and that contributed to obtain samples used in this study. This project was supported by ISPRA, by the Italian Ministry of Environment, Direction of Nature Protection, and it was partly supported by the European Social Fund through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science of Bulgaria (BG051PO001-3.3.04/41). We are particularly grateful to Aritz Ruiz-Gonzalez for his useful suggestions and help in landscape genetic analysis and for his comments on a preliminary version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Genetica, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), via Cà Fornacetta 9, 40064, Ozzano dell’Emilia, BO, Italy

    Elena Fabbri, Romolo Caniglia & Ettore Randi

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg. 6, 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ana Galov & Haidi Arbanasić

  3. Museo Friulano di Storia Naturale, Udine, via Marangoni 39, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Luca Lapini

  4. Department for Hunting, Fishery and Beekeeping, Faculty of Agriculture in Osijek, Kralja Petra Svačića 1d, 31 000, Osijek, Croatia

    Ivica Bošković & Tihomir Florijančić

  5. Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Ul. Urii Gagrin 2, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Albena Vlasseva & Atidzhe Ahmed

  6. National Research Station of Wildlife Management, Biology and Pathology, Iskarsko shoes 5 blvd, 1582, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Rossen L. Mirchev

  7. Department 18/Section of Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University, Sohngårdsholmsvej 57, 9000, Ålborg, Denmark

    Ettore Randi

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  1. Elena Fabbri
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Correspondence to Elena Fabbri.

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Fabbri, E., Caniglia, R., Galov, A. et al. Genetic structure and expansion of golden jackals (Canis aureus) in the north-western distribution range (Croatia and eastern Italian Alps). Conserv Genet 15, 187–199 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-013-0530-7

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