Genetic evidence further elucidates the history and extent of badger introductions from Great Britain into Ireland

Allen, Adrian and Guerrero, Jimena and Byrne, Andrew and Lavery, John and Presho, Eleanor and Courcier, Emily and O'Keeffe, James and Fogarty, Ursula and Delahay, Richard and Wilson, Gavin and Newman, Chris and Buesching, Christina and Silk, Matthew and O'Meara, Denise and Skuce, Robin and Biek, Roman and McDonald, Robbie A. (2020) Genetic evidence further elucidates the history and extent of badger introductions from Great Britain into Ireland. Royal Society Open Science, 7 (4). ISSN 2054-5703

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Abstract

The colonization of Ireland by mammals has been the subject of extensive study using genetic methods and forms a central problem in understanding the phylogeography of European mammals after the Last Glacial Maximum. Ireland exhibits a depauperate mammal fauna relative to Great Britain and continental Europe, and a range of natural and anthropogenic processes have given rise to its modern fauna. Previous Europe-wide surveys of the European badger (Meles meles) have found conflicting microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA evidence in Irish populations, suggesting Irish badgers have arisen from admixture between human imported British and Scandinavian animals. The extent and history of contact between British and Irish badger populations remains unclear. We use comprehensive genetic data from Great Britain and Ireland to demonstrate that badgers in Ireland's northeastern and southeastern counties are genetically similar to contemporary British populations. Simulation analyses suggest this admixed population arose in Ireland 600-700 (CI 100-2600) years before present most likely through introduction of British badgers by people. These findings add to our knowledge of the complex colonization history of Ireland by mammals and the central role of humans in facilitating it.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding Information: This project was funded by the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs, NI (DAERA-NI). Fieldwork in GB was funded by NERC (grant no. NE/M004546/1). Funding Information: Ethics. All Irish samples were collected incidentally alongside ongoing government efforts to eradicate bovine tuberculosis under the relevant legislation of each territory - NI: Tuberculosis Control order (NI) 1999 No.263; Tuberculosis Scheme order (NI) 1999 No.264); RoI: Culling of badgers is carried out under licence by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, with powers conferred by the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2010. Badger samples from GB were collected under Home Office and Natural England licenses. Data accessibility. Data are available as electronic supplementary material, data S1. Authors’ contributions. A.A., J.G., A.B., R.S. and R.B. conceived the study and wrote the manuscript. A.A., E.P. and J.L. performed laboratory work. A.A. performed analyses. Other authors supplied samples and drafted the manuscript. Competing interests. We declare we have no conflict of interest. Funding. This project was funded by the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs, NI (DAERA-NI). Fieldwork in GB was funded by NERC (grant no. NE/M004546/1). Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors.
Uncontrolled Keywords: /dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1000
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Depositing User: Admin SSL
Date Deposited: 19 Oct 2022 23:11
Last Modified: 12 Aug 2023 22:45
URI: http://repository-testing.wit.ie/id/eprint/4550

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