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Severe inbreeding depression in a wild wolf (Canis lupus) population

Liberg, O ; Andren, H ; Pedersen, HC ; Sand, H ; Sejberg, Douglas LU ; Wabakken, P ; Åkesson, Mikael LU and Bensch, Staffan LU (2005) In Biology letters 1(1). p.17-20
Abstract
The difficulty of obtaining pedigrees for wild populations has hampered the possibility of demonstrating inbreeding depression in nature. In a small, naturally restored, wild population of grey wolves in Scandinavia, founded in 1983, we constructed a pedigree for 24 of the 28 breeding pairs established in the period 1983-2002. Ancestry for the breeding animals was determined through a combination of field data (snow tracking and radio telemetry) and DNA microsatellite analysis. The population was founded by only three individuals. The inbreeding coefficient F varied between 0.00 and 0.41 for wolves born during the study period. The number of surviving pups per litter during their first winter after birth was strongly correlated with... (More)
The difficulty of obtaining pedigrees for wild populations has hampered the possibility of demonstrating inbreeding depression in nature. In a small, naturally restored, wild population of grey wolves in Scandinavia, founded in 1983, we constructed a pedigree for 24 of the 28 breeding pairs established in the period 1983-2002. Ancestry for the breeding animals was determined through a combination of field data (snow tracking and radio telemetry) and DNA microsatellite analysis. The population was founded by only three individuals. The inbreeding coefficient F varied between 0.00 and 0.41 for wolves born during the study period. The number of surviving pups per litter during their first winter after birth was strongly correlated with inbreeding coefficients of pups (R-2 = 0. 39, p < 0.00 1). This inbreeding depression was recalculated to match standard estimates of lethal equivalents (213), corresponding to 6.04 (2.58-9.48, 95% CI) litter-size-reducing equivalents in this wolf population. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biology letters
volume
1
issue
1
pages
17 - 20
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000232135300005
  • scopus:27444432065
  • pmid:17148117
ISSN
1744-9561
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2004.0266
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4887c346-1788-4844-b652-16483ad834ba (old id 145301)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:10:28
date last changed
2022-04-13 07:05:41
@article{4887c346-1788-4844-b652-16483ad834ba,
  abstract     = {{The difficulty of obtaining pedigrees for wild populations has hampered the possibility of demonstrating inbreeding depression in nature. In a small, naturally restored, wild population of grey wolves in Scandinavia, founded in 1983, we constructed a pedigree for 24 of the 28 breeding pairs established in the period 1983-2002. Ancestry for the breeding animals was determined through a combination of field data (snow tracking and radio telemetry) and DNA microsatellite analysis. The population was founded by only three individuals. The inbreeding coefficient F varied between 0.00 and 0.41 for wolves born during the study period. The number of surviving pups per litter during their first winter after birth was strongly correlated with inbreeding coefficients of pups (R-2 = 0. 39, p &lt; 0.00 1). This inbreeding depression was recalculated to match standard estimates of lethal equivalents (213), corresponding to 6.04 (2.58-9.48, 95% CI) litter-size-reducing equivalents in this wolf population.}},
  author       = {{Liberg, O and Andren, H and Pedersen, HC and Sand, H and Sejberg, Douglas and Wabakken, P and Åkesson, Mikael and Bensch, Staffan}},
  issn         = {{1744-9561}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{17--20}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Biology letters}},
  title        = {{Severe inbreeding depression in a wild wolf (Canis lupus) population}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/2812642/625047.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsbl.2004.0266}},
  volume       = {{1}},
  year         = {{2005}},
}