Wolf microevolution in the melting pot: range expansion, population sympatry, dynamic mosaic admixture zone and asymmetric gene flow
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Here we describe substantial range shifts of historically differentiated wolf populations and formation of novel sympatric zones during the recent decade in Central Europe. This region provides a natural laboratory for testing alternative scenarios of population interactions from continued isolation or restricted gene flow to progressive population fusion, while prompting a reassessment of their geographic ranges. Based on sampling across the Czech Republic and Slovakia obtained from large-scale monitoring programmes over five wolf years (2020/21–2024/25), complemented by comparative material from neighbouring regions, we analysed mitochondrial haplotypes, autosomal microsatellite genotypes and sex-linked loci. The Central European population with Baltic ancestry predominated across large parts of Central Europe including the Bohemian Massif with enclaves in the Western Carpathians. The Carpathian population was predominant in Slovakia, with a smaller satellite occurrence in the northern part of the Bohemian Massif. Alpine population was centred in the Alps but extended into southern parts of Bohemian Massif and Central German Uplands. Following the sporadic occurrence of admixed individuals, broad mosaic and dynamic sympatric zones have formed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the last decade. These scenarios could be facilitated by the presence of intermediate habitats and isolation of the Bohemian Massif structural basin, framed by a massive ring fault system. Recent-immigration estimates are asymmetric, with the largest mean contributions from the Alpine to the Central European population and from the Central European to the Carpathian population, with the second case potentially linked to source-sink dynamics driven by the hunting pressure within the Carpathian population (whereas the others are protected year-round). Whether increasing admixture will enhance viability of populations (that currently have small effective sizes) through genetic rescue or carry risks of outbreeding depression remains uncertain, highlighting the need for continued transboundary monitoring within conservation biology framework.
Authors: Jana Šrutová, Nikola Tkáčová, Ema Cetkovská, Kristýna Eliášová, Lenka Veselovská, Lenka Ungrová, Kamila Montoya, Michal Škrobánek, Petr Matějů, Martin Duľa, Aleš Vorel, Jan Mokrý, Karolína Mikslová, Sebastien Collet, Carsten Nowak, Francesca Rolle, Francesca Marucco, Maciej Szewczyk, Robert Mysłajek, Sabina Nowak, Slavomír Finďo, Vladimír Antal, Miroslav Kutal, Jindřiška Jelínková, Barbora Černá Bolfíková, Pavel Hulva
Institutions: Charles University, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Mendel University in Brno, Šumava National Park, Správa Krkonošského Národního Parku, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M, University of Turin, University of Gdańsk, University of Warsaw, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, University of Ostrava
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7208743077