Population and landscape genetics of the stone marten and red fox in Portugal : implications for conservation management of common carnivores

Tese de doutoramento, Biologia (Biologia da Conservação), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2015

Iberian landscapes have been extensively altered by human activities leading to significant habitat loss and fragmentation. This has impacted carnivore communities due to their high susceptibility to changes in the structure and dynamics of landscapes. Research on population and landscape genetics of common carnivore species promises a better understanding of ecological and microevolutionary processes and, consequently, more informed conservation management of their populations and habitats. This study assessed population structure and inferred the influence of landscape features on genetic connectivity of two common but ecologically distinct carnivore species: the stone marten (Martes foina) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). A comprehensive set of samples collected throughout mainland Portugal was analysed. Microsatellite markers isolated in the domestic dog were used for the red fox and a new panel isolated in this study was used for the stone marten. To assess genetic structure, a combination of Bayesian clustering, progressive partitioning and multivariate analyses was used. A reciprocal causal modelling framework (using partial Mantel tests) and multiple regressions on distance matrices were employed to evaluate the relationship between genetic versus geographic, barrier and landscape resistance distances. The results revealed a marked genetic structure in the stone marten and, in contrast, a weak one in the red fox, and supported a detailed methodological approach that seemed reliable to distinguish potential subpopulations versus weak or incipient genetic patterns. A pattern of isolation-by-distance was detected in both species, as well as the importance of the rivers Tejo and Sado in shaping genetic connectivity in the stone marten. Conversely, no marked influence of land cover was identified for either of the studied species. The importance of the results from this thesis for the conservation management of the study species and other mesocarnivores in the Iberian Peninsula is discussed.

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), SFRH/BD/ 38410/2007