About Dr Eryn McFarlane
Dr McFarlane is a postdoctoral researcher in the Buerkle lab at the University of Wyoming. She is an evolutionary biologist interested in speciation and hybridization in wild systems, using a combination of quantitative genetics, genomics, and long-term field studies. Her recent work has focused on hybridization between native red deer and introduced sika populations in Scotland. For more information please see her website https://serynmcfarlane.wordpress.com/
Anthropogenic hybridization between red deer and sika
Hybridization between previously reproductively isolated species is increasing with human interference; either through disturbance or the introduction of non-native species. This anthropogenic hybridization has the potential to change the genetic makeup of a native population, leading to extinction by hybridization in extreme cases. Even very low levels of introgression resulting from many generations of backcrossing can result in a loss of biodiversity, if particular non-native genes go to fixation. However, historically, too few markers have been used in systems of anthropogenic hybridization to detect backcrossing after the earliest generations. In a system of hybridizing Scottish red deer and introduced sika, we found substantially more introgression than was previously detected based on microsatellite markers, indicating many generations of backcrossing. We found substantial variation in rates of introgression across the genome and conclude that most of the extraordinary introgression is due to genetic drift rather than natural selection. In any case, non-native alleles fixing in a new population are still a conservation concern. Finally, we capitalize on the many hybrid individuals we found, and the extreme variation in size among individuals, to identify regions of the genome associated with mass. Overall, our use of genomic markers allows us to identify individuals and genes that are targets for conservation policy to maintain the red deer population in Scotland.