Genetic bottleneck in the threatened western population of european mink mustela lutreola

Abstract

The western population of European mink Mustela lutreola has recently suffered a severe decline in over more than 50% of its range, probably disappearing from Brittany in 1992 and from Pays de Loire in 1997. Allozyme electrophoresis on 38 presumptive loci showed that the proportion of polymorphic loci reached only 10.5% at P < 0.01 level in the European mink. Observed heterozy-gosity averaged Ho = 0.02 and expected heterozygosity HE = 0.038 but the F1s index reached 0.48, revealing a considerable deficit. The low genetic variability might be due to previous bottlenecks. Demographic depletion in Mustela lutreola resulted in a loss of genetic diversity emphasising that reproductive exchanges were altered and worsening the risk of extinction of this vulnerable population. © 1999 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.