Genetic Effects of Sable (Martes zibellina L.) Reintroduction in Western Siberia

Abstract

In the middle of the 20th century, massive introductions of sables were performed to recover the area of this valuable fur species. In this work, genetic variation of a naturalized sable population from the Vakh River basin (Nizhnevartovskiy district, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) was investigated. This population developed as a result of sable introduction from Cisbaikalia in 1952‒1957. The naturalized sable population of the Vakh basin occupies an intermediate position between two autochthonous sable populations from the Ob River area and Cisbaikalia, as assessed by variation of five microsatellite loci. Apparently, the genetic structure of the modern sable population from the Vakh basin was formed by mixing the gene pools of the original Cisbaikalian population and the neighboring autochthonous populations from the Ob River area which recovered their numbers in a natural way. Data on genetic variation in the naturalized sable population agree with the results of previous morphological studies and can be employed for long-term monitoring of the outcome of sable introduction.