The impact of habitat fragmentation and social structure on the population genetics of roe deer (Capreolus capreolus L.) in Central Europe

Nine out of 57 bovine and caprine microsatellites investigated have proved polymorphic in roe deer populations from Central Europe. The polymorphism of four to nine microsatellites (with two to 16 alleles each) has been screened in 492 roe deer from 27 sample locations in Germany, the Netherlands and France, and 10 allozyme loci have been investigated in 118 roe deer from Germany. These studies have revealed a genetically homogeneous population, but with a local scatter of allele frequencies. The mean genetic distance among sample pairs, and the overall fixation index for the 27 population samples were D = 0.1638 and GST = 0.0972 for four microsatellite loci, and D = 0.0598 and G(ST) = 0.1459 for 10 allozyme loci. No isolation-by-distance was observed. Roe deer from isolated habitats could be distinguished by various measures of genetic variability. The expected heterozygosity and the allelic diversity were higher in male than in female roe deer, but mean genetic distances and fixation indices were higher in females. The fixation indices of pairs of adjacent samples, and the genetic distance among these samples correlated highly significantly with the density of human settlement, measured by the percentage of land surface covered by roads and villages. The utility of allozymes and microsatellites for population genetic studies in cervids are compared.