Long-term genetic consequences of intense hunting pressure on Swedish moose

Research on managed populations can increase our understanding of the speed of differentiation, local adaptation and the forces driving these processes. Moose (Alces alces) is a popular game species in the northern hemisphere. In 1789, the Swedish king Gustav III allowed free hunting on all ungulates, which led to a dramatic decline of the moose population. After careful management during the 20th century the population recovered and is today the most important game species in Sweden. Allozyme investigations indicate that the Swedish moose population contain very little polymorphism. Thus, to gain better resolution of the differentiation processes after the decline, we investigated a panel of 12 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers in 326 Swedish moose specimens representing 13 populations. Preliminary analysis indicate a cline in central Sweden, with pairwise FST in-between south/central populations and northern populations, respectively, below 0.1 and between approximately 0.2. We believe the observed cline is due to limited longitudal geneflow between contiguous populations. Potentially, there may also have been separate founder events of northern and southern populations during the 19th century decline. Our results show the value of detailed assessment of genetic differentiation and the importance of locally adapted, sustainable, management plans