Noninvasive molecular and morphological evidences for an undiscovered population of snow vole in Southern Spain

Abstract

Capturing wild animals can be time consuming and difficult or even impractical. Noninvasive sampling is potentially a cost-effective and efficient means to monitor wild animals, thereby avoiding the need of capture and disturb species in the wild. On the basis of the morphological and genetic analyses of owl pellet contents, a so far undetected European snow vole (Chionomys nivalis) population was discovered in the Sierra Segura mountain range (Southern Spain). The mtDNA sequence from the newly discovered haplotype was compared with sequences from vole populations of the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Peñalara mountain ranges (Spain) and from Churwalden (Switzerland). The nine recovered haplotypes clustered in four distinct lineages according to their geographical origin. The vole sequence from the Sierra Segura owl pellet belonged to a new haplotype, constituting a new lineage. The evolutionary divergence between sequences from the Sierra Segura and other Spanish populations was higher than that among other Spanish haplotypes. The new snow vole haplotype from this new locality duplicates the number of occurrence sites of this critically endangered species in Southern Spain, which is of great interest for further conservation and management plans of the European snow vole in the most southwestern area of its entire distribution range.

Keywords::

• Chionomys nivalis
• mtDNA
• owl pellet
• Sierra Nevada
• Sierra Peñalara
• Sierra Segura

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain) and Junta de Andalucia for the permission to capture C. nivalis. Pedro Pablo Cano Henares (EGMASA) is thanked for fieldwork assistance.

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain). This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (CGL2009-07754), and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and by the Junta de Andalucía (Program Ayudas a Grupos de Investigación: CVI 220 and RNM118). This paper had been partially funded by a contract between Consejeria de MedioAmbiente (Junta de Andalucia) and Doñana Biological Station (CSIC). The authors report no conflicts of interests. The authors alone are responsible for doing the research and writing the paper.