Population history and genetic structure of a circumpolar species: the arctic fox

    Authors

    L. Dalen; E. Fuglei; P. Hersteinsson; C. M. O. Kapel; J. D. Roth; G. Samelius; M. Tannerfeldt;A. Angerbjorn

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Biol. J. Linnean Soc.

    Keywords

    Alopex lagopus; bottleneck; ecology; gene flow; mitochondrial DNA; phylogeography; HUMAN MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA; ALOPEX-LAGOPUS; GEOGRAPHICAL-DISTRIBUTION; PHENOTYPIC ASSOCIATIONS; CLADISTIC-ANALYSIS; VULPES-VULPES; PHYLOGEOGRAPHY; HAPLOTYPES; DIFFERENTIATION; PLEISTOCENE; Evolutionary Biology

    Abstract

    The circumpolar arctic fox Alopex lagopus thrives in cold climates and has a high migration rate involving long-distance movements. Thus, it differs from many temperate taxa that were subjected to cyclical restriction in glacial refugia during the Ice Ages. We investigated population history and genetic structure through mitochondrial control region variation in 191 arctic foxes from throughout the arctic. Several haplotypes had a Holarctic distribution and no phylogeographical structure was found. Furthermore, there was no difference in haplotype diversity between populations inhabiting previously glaciated and unglaciated regions. This suggests current gene flow among the studied populations, with the exception of those in Iceland, which is surrounded by year-round open water. Arctic foxes have often been separated into two ecotypes: 'lemming' and 'coastal'. An analysis of molecular variance suggested particularly high gene flow among populations of the 'lemming' ecotype. This could be explained by their higher migration rate and reduced fitness in migrants between ecotypes. A mismatch analysis indicated a sudden expansion in population size around 118 000 BP, which coincides with the last interglacial. We propose that glacial cycles affected the arctic fox in a way opposite to their effect on temperate species, with interglacials leading to short-term isolation in northern refugia. (C) 2005 The Linnean Society of London.

    Journal Title

    Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

    Volume

    84

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2005

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    79

    Last Page

    89

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000226702100004

    ISSN

    0024-4066

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