Range-wide and temporal genomic analyses reveal the consequences of near-extinction in Swedish moose.
Nicolas Dussex, Sara Kurland, Remi-André Olsen, Göran Spong, Göran Ericsson, Robert Ekblom, Nils Ryman, Love Dalén, Linda Laikre
Author Information
Nicolas Dussex: Centre for Palaeogenetics, Svante Arrhenius väg 20C, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. nicolas.dussex@gmail.com. ORCID
Sara Kurland: Department of Zoology, Division of Population Genetics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Remi-André Olsen: Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, SE-171 21, Solna, Sweden.
Göran Spong: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83, Umeå, Sweden.
Göran Ericsson: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83, Umeå, Sweden.
Robert Ekblom: Wildlife Analysis Unit, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, SE-106 48, Stockholm, Sweden. ORCID
Nils Ryman: Department of Zoology, Division of Population Genetics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Love Dalén: Centre for Palaeogenetics, Svante Arrhenius väg 20C, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Linda Laikre: Department of Zoology, Division of Population Genetics, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. linda.laikre@popgen.su.se. ORCID
Ungulate species have experienced severe declines over the past centuries through overharvesting and habitat loss. Even if many game species have recovered thanks to strict hunting regulation, the genome-wide impacts of overharvesting are still unclear. Here, we examine the temporal and geographical differences in genome-wide diversity in moose (Alces alces) over its whole range in Sweden by sequencing 87 modern and historical genomes. We found limited impact of the 1900s near-extinction event but local variation in inbreeding and load in modern populations, as well as suggestion of a risk of future reduction in genetic diversity and gene flow. Furthermore, we found candidate genes for local adaptation, and rapid temporal allele frequency shifts involving coding genes since the 1980s, possibly due to selective harvesting. Our results highlight that genomic changes potentially impacting fitness can occur over short time scales and underline the need to track both deleterious and selectively advantageous genomic variation.
References
Mol Biol Evol. 2020 Dec 16;37(12):3642-3653
[PMID: 32642779]
