THE GENETIC LEGACY OF FORTY YEARS OF DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP TRANSLOCATIONS IN NEVADA

Joshua P Jahner; University of Nevada, Reno; jpjahner@gmail.com; Marjorie D. Matocq, Michael Cox, Peregrine Wolff, Mitchell Gritts, Thomas L. Parchman

Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is an iconic western North American species that has been heavily managed throughout its range. Once thought to be the most abundant large mammal in the state of Nevada, dramatic declines in the mid 1900s reduced population sizes and restricted the range of desert bighorn sheep primarily to southern Nevada, though a few remnant populations persisted in central Nevada. To restore central Nevadan populations, the Nevada Department of Wildlife translocated several individuals from multiple southern Nevada source populations, leading to the admixture of individuals with different genetic ancestry. Here, we used a genotyping-by-sequencing approach to generate genetic information at several thousand loci for hundreds of desert bighorn sheep individuals across the state of Nevada. We found evidence for strong population genetic structure between the source populations in southern Nevada, suggesting that substantial genetic variation still exists in the state. However, almost all central Nevada populations have genetic signatures that strongly resemble those from their translocation source populations. Finally, one central Nevadan population was genetically distinct from all other populations and is likely the last bastion of central Nevadan genetic ancestry remaining in the state.

Genetic Techniques in Wildlife Research and Management