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The impact of past introductions on an iconic and economically important species, the red deer of Scotland

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posted on 2023-08-30, 13:52 authored by Sílvia Pérez-Espona, Richard J. Hall, F. Javier Pérez-Barbería, Belinda C. Glass, Jamie F. Ward, Josephine M. Pemberton
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is an iconic species in Scotland and, due to its value as a game species, an important element of the Scottish rural economy. The native status of this species is sometimes questioned because of many recorded introductions of nonnative deer in the past that were an attempt to improve trophy size. In this study, we assessed the impact of past introductions on the genetic makeup of Scottish red deer by genotyping at 15 microsatellite loci a large number of samples (n = 1152), including mainland and island Scottish red deer and individuals from several putative external source populations used in introductions to improve trophy size. Population structure and introgression assessment analyses revealed that the impact of introductions was weak in Highland red deer populations but more prominent on the islands, especially on those where current red deer populations are mostly or entirely derived from introductions (Harris & Lewis, Arran, and Rum). Frequent imports of Central-Eastern European red deer into English deer parks were reflected in the higher genetic introgression values found in some of the individuals collected in parks.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

104

Issue number

1

Page range

14-22

Publication title

Journal of Heredity

ISSN

1465-7333

Publisher

Oxford University Press

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2013-08-15

Legacy creation date

2019-08-22

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

ARCHIVED Faculty of Science & Technology (until September 2018)

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