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The effect of sex‐biased dispersal in mammalian ecology and evolution can be elucidated by focusing on maternally or paternally inherited DNA polymorphisms. In sika deer, the genetic structure of the maternal lineage has been clarified by studies based on mitochondrial DNA variation. However, the genetic structure of the paternal lineage has not been well analyzed due to the limited number of point mutations in Y chromosome sequences. In this study, we focused on mutations of highly polymorphic simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in the Y chromosome and developed 16 Y chromosome SSR markers to evaluate male‐biased dispersal in sika deer. In total, 55 alleles and 31 multi‐locus haplotypes were detected from these 16 loci, revealing clear genetic differentiation among populations (F′ST = 0.783). In particular, there were unique alleles for the native individuals on Tanegashima and Yakushima Islands and introduced exotic individuals from Taiwan. These markers are highly useful for evaluating not only historical male‐mediated dispersal, genetic structure, and demography of the native populations in Japan, but also the impact of artificial introductions on hybridization, especially the introgression of alleles from escaped farmed individuals to native populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population fragmentation can reduce genetic diversity and increase the extinction risk of island endemic mammals, especially those with low dispersal ability. However, the intra‐island genetic structure and demographic history of mammals have not yet been well evaluated, especially on small geographic scales. We performed a genetic analysis of isolated island populations of the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) on Tokunoshima Island using mitochondrial D‐loop region sequences and 8 nuclear microsatellite markers. Using data from fecal samples, we detected 2 genetic groups that corresponded with the northern and southern forested areas of the island based on the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. We detected some admixture between the 2 groups in the nuclear genomes but did not detect gene flow between the 2 groups in the mitochondrial genomes. Although genetic diversity was higher in the southern population than in the northern population, the fixation index showed higher levels of inbreeding in the southern area with a signal of a recent bottleneck. We inferred the divergence time between the northern and southern groups (∼4,320 years ago) using approximate Bayesian computations. These genetic structure patterns may have been generated by a combination of the demographic history of the species in relation to the geology of the island, human activities in the stone age, deforestation due to sugar plantations (beginning approximately 300 years ago), and recent human activities. This study highlights the importance of considering genetic structure in relation to complex factors within a single‐island habitat for appropriate genetic management of endemic mammals on islands. © 2018 The Wildlife Society. Populations of an endemic rabbit were genetically differentiated at a small geographic scale within island habitat. This study highlights the importance of considering genetic structure in relation to complex factors within a single‐island habitat for appropriate genetic management of island endemic mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boreal and cool temperate forests are the major land cover of northern Eurasia, and information about continental-scale genetic structure and past demographic history of forest species is important from an evolutionary perspective and has conservation implications. However, although many population genetic studies of forest tree species have been conducted in Europe or Eastern Asia, continental-scale genetic structure and past demographic history remain poorly known. Here, we focus on the birch genus Betula, which is commonly distributed in boreal and cool temperate forests, and examine 129 populations of two tetraploid and four diploid species collected from Iceland to Japan. All individuals were genotyped at seven to 18 nuclear simple sequence repeats ( nSSRs). Pairwise [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Genetic diversity and structure of Pinus densiflora populations was examined. [•] Allelic richness was significantly lower in both northern and eastern populations. [•] Recent bottleneck was inferred more frequently in northern and eastern populations. [•] Northeastern cluster showed higher F value than the western and central clusters. [•] Strong genetic drift through rapid expansion in northeastern population was indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]