Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix )

Rebecca S. Chen; Carl D. Soulsbury; Christophe Lebigre; Gilbert Ludwig; Kees van Oers; Joseph I. Hoffman

doi:10.1111/eva.13521

Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix )

Rebecca S. Chen^* (Corresponding author), Carl D. Soulsbury, Christophe Lebigre, Gilbert Ludwig, Kees van Oers, Joseph I. Hoffman

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Animal Ecology (AnE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

Intensive hunting activities such as commercial fishing and trophy hunting can have profound influences on natural populations. However, less intensive recreational hunting can also have subtle effects on animal behaviour, habitat use and movement, with implications for population persistence. Lekking species such as the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) may be especially prone to hunting as leks are temporally and spatially predictable, making them easy targets. Furthermore, inbreeding in black grouse is mainly avoided through female-biased dispersal, so any disruptions to dispersal caused by hunting could lead to changes in gene flow, increasing the risk of inbreeding. We therefore investigated the impact of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal on a metapopulation of black grouse in Central Finland. We genotyped 1065 adult males and 813 adult females from twelve lekking sites (six hunted, six unhunted) and 200 unrelated chicks from seven sites (two hunted, five unhunted) at up to thirteen microsatellite loci. Our initial confirmatory analysis of sex-specific fine-scale population structure revealed little genetic structure in the metapopulation. Levels of inbreeding did not differ significantly between hunted and unhunted sites in neither adults nor chicks. However, immigration rates into hunted sites were significantly higher among adults compared to immigration into unhunted sites. We conclude that the influx of migrants into hunted sites may compensate for the loss of harvested individuals, thereby increasing gene flow and mitigating inbreeding. Given the absence of any obvious barriers to gene flow in Central Finland, a spatially heterogeneous matrix of hunted and unhunted regions may be crucial to ensure sustainable harvests into the future.

Original language	English
Journal	Evolutionary Applications
Early online date	2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13521
Publication status	Published - 2022

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10.1111/eva.13521Licence: CC BY

Chen et al 2023 AAMFinal published version, 1.14 MBLicence: CC BY

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@article{7ee558eecd6a4525971a99f86103ab24,

title = "Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix )",

abstract = "Intensive hunting activities such as commercial fishing and trophy hunting can have profound influences on natural populations. However, less intensive recreational hunting can also have subtle effects on animal behaviour, habitat use and movement, with implications for population persistence. Lekking species such as the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) may be especially prone to hunting as leks are temporally and spatially predictable, making them easy targets. Furthermore, inbreeding in black grouse is mainly avoided through female-biased dispersal, so any disruptions to dispersal caused by hunting could lead to changes in gene flow, increasing the risk of inbreeding. We therefore investigated the impact of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal on a metapopulation of black grouse in Central Finland. We genotyped 1065 adult males and 813 adult females from twelve lekking sites (six hunted, six unhunted) and 200 unrelated chicks from seven sites (two hunted, five unhunted) at up to thirteen microsatellite loci. Our initial confirmatory analysis of sex-specific fine-scale population structure revealed little genetic structure in the metapopulation. Levels of inbreeding did not differ significantly between hunted and unhunted sites in neither adults nor chicks. However, immigration rates into hunted sites were significantly higher among adults compared to immigration into unhunted sites. We conclude that the influx of migrants into hunted sites may compensate for the loss of harvested individuals, thereby increasing gene flow and mitigating inbreeding. Given the absence of any obvious barriers to gene flow in Central Finland, a spatially heterogeneous matrix of hunted and unhunted regions may be crucial to ensure sustainable harvests into the future.",

author = "Chen, {Rebecca S.} and Soulsbury, {Carl D.} and Christophe Lebigre and Gilbert Ludwig and {van Oers}, Kees and Hoffman, {Joseph I.}",

note = "Data archiving: Raw data and R scripts in Dryad, additional processed data and tables on Github, but no NIOO data.",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1111/eva.13521",

language = "English",

journal = "Evolutionary Applications",

issn = "1752-4563",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

}

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T1 - Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix )

AU - Chen, Rebecca S.

AU - Soulsbury, Carl D.

AU - Lebigre, Christophe

AU - Ludwig, Gilbert

AU - van Oers, Kees

AU - Hoffman, Joseph I.

N1 - Data archiving: Raw data and R scripts in Dryad, additional processed data and tables on Github, but no NIOO data.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Intensive hunting activities such as commercial fishing and trophy hunting can have profound influences on natural populations. However, less intensive recreational hunting can also have subtle effects on animal behaviour, habitat use and movement, with implications for population persistence. Lekking species such as the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) may be especially prone to hunting as leks are temporally and spatially predictable, making them easy targets. Furthermore, inbreeding in black grouse is mainly avoided through female-biased dispersal, so any disruptions to dispersal caused by hunting could lead to changes in gene flow, increasing the risk of inbreeding. We therefore investigated the impact of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal on a metapopulation of black grouse in Central Finland. We genotyped 1065 adult males and 813 adult females from twelve lekking sites (six hunted, six unhunted) and 200 unrelated chicks from seven sites (two hunted, five unhunted) at up to thirteen microsatellite loci. Our initial confirmatory analysis of sex-specific fine-scale population structure revealed little genetic structure in the metapopulation. Levels of inbreeding did not differ significantly between hunted and unhunted sites in neither adults nor chicks. However, immigration rates into hunted sites were significantly higher among adults compared to immigration into unhunted sites. We conclude that the influx of migrants into hunted sites may compensate for the loss of harvested individuals, thereby increasing gene flow and mitigating inbreeding. Given the absence of any obvious barriers to gene flow in Central Finland, a spatially heterogeneous matrix of hunted and unhunted regions may be crucial to ensure sustainable harvests into the future.

AB - Intensive hunting activities such as commercial fishing and trophy hunting can have profound influences on natural populations. However, less intensive recreational hunting can also have subtle effects on animal behaviour, habitat use and movement, with implications for population persistence. Lekking species such as the black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) may be especially prone to hunting as leks are temporally and spatially predictable, making them easy targets. Furthermore, inbreeding in black grouse is mainly avoided through female-biased dispersal, so any disruptions to dispersal caused by hunting could lead to changes in gene flow, increasing the risk of inbreeding. We therefore investigated the impact of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal on a metapopulation of black grouse in Central Finland. We genotyped 1065 adult males and 813 adult females from twelve lekking sites (six hunted, six unhunted) and 200 unrelated chicks from seven sites (two hunted, five unhunted) at up to thirteen microsatellite loci. Our initial confirmatory analysis of sex-specific fine-scale population structure revealed little genetic structure in the metapopulation. Levels of inbreeding did not differ significantly between hunted and unhunted sites in neither adults nor chicks. However, immigration rates into hunted sites were significantly higher among adults compared to immigration into unhunted sites. We conclude that the influx of migrants into hunted sites may compensate for the loss of harvested individuals, thereby increasing gene flow and mitigating inbreeding. Given the absence of any obvious barriers to gene flow in Central Finland, a spatially heterogeneous matrix of hunted and unhunted regions may be crucial to ensure sustainable harvests into the future.

UR - https://github.com/rshuhuachen/blackgrouse-hunting

UR - https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.r7sqv9sh0

U2 - 10.1111/eva.13521

DO - 10.1111/eva.13521

M3 - Article

SN - 1752-4563

JO - Evolutionary Applications

JF - Evolutionary Applications

ER -

Effects of hunting on genetic diversity, inbreeding and dispersal in Finnish black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix )

Abstract

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