![]() This supports the existence of a subspecies in central–southern Italy ( C. In addition to these divisions, significant internal structuring has been detected in roe sampled from the Italian and Iberian peninsulas. The central lineage is widespread throughout Europe, whereas the eastern lineage is found mainly in Greece and Serbia and the western lineage is mainly in Spain and Portugal (see Lorenzini et al., 2003 Randi et al., 2004 Lorenzini and Lovari, 2006). Genetic variation of the European roe deer divides into central, eastern and western lineages. Signatures of this past history are evident in the phylogeographic patterns of modern roe deer from across Europe (for review, see Sommer et al., 2009). During the last glacial maximum (LGM, 23 000–18 000 years before present (YBP) Kukla et al., 2002), roe deer were likely forced into southern refugial populations along with other temperate species, later recolonising northern Europe following climatic warming and deglaciation. The European roe deer is well represented in the fossil record from the Middle to Late Pleistocene ( Lister et al., 1998 Sommer and Zachos, 2009), and have coexisted with many other large mammal species that perished around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (for example, mammoth, cave bear, steppe bison, giant deer). Our study species is a large mammal that is currently the most common and widespread cervid in temperate habitat across Europe, the European roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus see Andersen et al., 1998). ![]() In this study we focus on how environmental factors (including those of anthropogenic origin) have contributed to the population dynamics and distribution of a widespread terrestrial mammal, and how these processes may have helped shape the level and pattern of genetic diversity in modern populations. Understanding the relationship between specific pressures on populations and the consequences for evolutionary potential is a core objective of conservation genetics, as well as an essential aspect of understanding evolution. This is influenced by both spatial and temporal factors, and both adaptation and genetic drift. We also find turnover in British roe deer haplotypes between the late-Holocene and modern day that have likely resulted from recent human disturbance activities such as habitat perturbation, overhunting and restocking.Įvolutionary process determines the level and structure of genetic diversity within and between natural populations. We find that past expansion and divergence events coincided with a warming environment and the subsequent closure of the land bridge between Europe and the United Kingdom. Here, we combine data from ancient and modern DNA to track population dynamics and patterns of connectivity, and test hypotheses about the influence of natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Later reintroductions from Europe led to population expansion, especially in southern United Kingdom. Subsequent hunting on the British mainland left the southern region extirpated of roe deer, whereas a refugial population remained in the north. As the Earth warmed during the early Holocene, the land bridge was lost. ![]() During the last glacial maximum (LGM), the British habitat was largely under ice and there was a land bridge to mainland Europe. ![]() ![]() The roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus) is one of the two species of deer native to Britain. Our objective in this study is to investigate a species that has responded to both natural and anthropogenic changes in ways that have shaped modern populations and provide insight into the key processes. Extant patterns of population structure and levels of diversity are a consequence of factors that vary in both space and time. ![]()
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