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Museum specimens reveal changes in the population structure of northern Fennoscandian domestic reindeer in the past one hundred years
Author(s) -
Bjørnstad G.,
Røed K. H.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
animal genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2052
pISSN - 0268-9146
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2052.2009.01999.x
Subject(s) - herding , extant taxon , peninsula , population , mtdna control region , geography , kola peninsula , circumpolar star , biology , mitochondrial dna , ecology , zoology , archaeology , demography , evolutionary biology , oceanography , genetics , geology , geochemistry , sociology , gene , genotype , haplotype
Summary Traditional reindeer herding of northern Fennoscandia has been based on seasonal movements independent of national borders. At the beginning of the 19th century, these yearly movements of reindeer were excessive, but during that century the borders between the Fennoscandian countries were closed. By analysing a 190‐base pair fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region in 79 museum samples, we show that the reindeer of northern Fennoscandia were one homogenous population shortly after the national borders were closed. However, anthropogenic activity has effectively ended genetic exchange within northern Fennoscandia and has made the reindeer population within this region heterogeneous. Genetic input of eastern origin is also suggested within the extant Russian reindeer of the Kola Peninsula.