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

197Citations
Citations of this article
503Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.
Get full text

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 (R2 = 0.39, p < 0.001). This inbreeding depression was recalculated to match standard estimates of lethal equivalents (2B), corresponding to 6.04 (2.58-9.48, 95% CI) litter-size-reducing equivalents in this wolf population. © 2005 The Royal Society.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Liberg, O., Andrén, H., Pedersen, H. C., Sand, H., Sejberg, D., Wabakken, R., … Bensch, S. (2005). Severe inbreeding depression in a wild wolf (Canis lupus) population. Biology Letters, 1(1), 17–20. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0266

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free