Strongly deleterious mutations influence reproductive output and longevity in an endangered population.

Inbreeding depression has been documented in various fitness traits in a wide range of species and taxa, however, the mutational basis is not yet well understood. We investigate how putatively deleterious variation influences fitness and is shaped by individual ancestry by re-sequencing complete genomes of 37 individuals in a natural arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population subjected to both inbreeding depression and genetic rescue. We find that individuals with high proportion of homozygous loss of function genotypes (LoFs), which are predicted to exert a strong effect on fitness, generally have lower lifetime reproductive success and live shorter lives compared with individuals with lower proportion of LoFs.

Properties of vertebrate predator-prey networks in the high Arctic.

Predation is an important ecological process that can significantly impact the maintenance of ecosystem services. In arctic environments, the relative ecological importance of predation is thought to be increasing due to climate change, partly because of increased productivity with rising temperatures. Therefore, understanding predator-prey interactions in arctic ecosystems is vital for the sustainable management of these northern regions.

The relative importance of abiotic and biotic environmental conditions for taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of spiders across spatial scales.

Both abiotic and biotic conditions may be important for biodiversity. However, their relative importance may vary among different diversity dimensions as well as across spatial scales. Spiders (Araneae) offer an ecologically relevant system for evaluating variation in the relative strength abiotic and biotic biodiversity regulation.

Genomic Consequences of Fragmentation in the Endangered Fennoscandian Arctic Fox ().

Accelerating climate change is causing severe habitat fragmentation in the Arctic, threatening the persistence of many cold-adapted species. The Scandinavian arctic fox () is highly fragmented, with a once continuous, circumpolar distribution, it struggled to recover from a demographic bottleneck in the late 19th century. The future persistence of the entire Scandinavian population is highly dependent on the northernmost Fennoscandian subpopulations (Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula), to provide a link to the viable Siberian population.

Genomic trajectories of a near-extinction event in the Chatham Island black robin.

Background: Understanding the micro--evolutionary response of populations to demographic declines is a major goal in evolutionary and conservation biology. In small populations, genetic drift can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, which will increase the risk of extinction. However, demographic recovery can still occur after extreme declines, suggesting that natural selection may purge deleterious mutations, even in extremely small populations.

Resources and predation: drivers of sociality in a cyclic mesopredator.

In socially flexible species, the tendency to live in groups is expected to vary through a trade-off between costs and benefits, determined by ecological conditions. The Resource Dispersion Hypothesis predicts that group size changes in response to patterns in resource availability. An additional dimension is described in Hersteinsson's model positing that sociality is further affected by a cost-benefit trade-off related to predation pressure.

Healthcare workers' structured daily reflection on patient safety, workload and work environment in intensive care. A descriptive retrospective study.

Objectives: To describe the results of use of structured daily reflection assessments among healthcare workers at an intensive care unit over the course of one year.

Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data encompassed 1095 work shifts, evaluated by healthcare workers at an intensive care unit using a structured daily reflection instrument.

Genomic and fitness consequences of inbreeding in an endangered carnivore.

Reduced fitness through genetic drift and inbreeding is a major threat to small and isolated populations. Although previous studies have generally used genetically verified pedigrees to document effects of inbreeding and gene flow, these often fail to capture the whole inbreeding history of the species. By assembling a draft arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) genome and resequencing complete genomes of 23 additional foxes born before and after a well-documented immigration event in Scandinavia, we here look into the genomic consequences of inbreeding and genetic rescue.

Consequences of past climate change and recent human persecution on mitogenomic diversity in the arctic fox.

Ancient DNA provides a powerful means to investigate the timing, rate and extent of population declines caused by extrinsic factors, such as past climate change and human activities. One species probably affected by both these factors is the arctic fox, which had a large distribution during the last glaciation that subsequently contracted at the start of the Holocene. More recently, the arctic fox population in Scandinavia went through a demographic bottleneck owing to human persecution.

Genetic rescue in an inbred Arctic fox () population.

Isolation of small populations can reduce fitness through inbreeding depression and impede population growth. Outcrossing with only a few unrelated individuals can increase demographic and genetic viability substantially, but few studies have documented such genetic rescue in natural mammal populations. We investigate the effects of immigration in a subpopulation of the endangered Scandinavian arctic fox (), founded by six individuals and isolated for 9 years at an extremely small population size.

Complete mitochondrial genome of a bat-eared fox (), along with phylogenetic considerations.

The bat-eared fox, is the only member of its genus and is thought to occupy a basal position within the dog family. These factors can lead to challenges in complete mitochondrial reconstructions and accurate phylogenetic positioning. Here, we present the first complete mitochondrial genome of the bat-eared fox recovered using shotgun sequencing and iterative mapping to three distantly related species.

Inbreeding depression in a critically endangered carnivore.

Harmful effects arising from matings between relatives (inbreeding) is a long-standing observation that is well founded in theory. Empirical evidence for inbreeding depression in natural populations is however rare because of the challenges of assembling pedigrees supplemented with fitness traits. We examined the occurrence of inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression using a unique data set containing a genetically verified pedigree with individual fitness traits for a critically endangered arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population.

Genetic footprints reveal geographic patterns of expansion in Fennoscandian red foxes.

Population expansions of boreal species are among the most substantial ecological consequences of climate change, potentially transforming both structure and processes of northern ecosystems. Despite their importance, little is known about expansion dynamics of boreal species. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are forecasted to become a keystone species in northern Europe, a process stemming from population expansions that began in the 19th century.

Genetic perspectives on northern population cycles: bridging the gap between theory and empirical studies.

Many key species in northern ecosystems are characterised by high-amplitude cyclic population demography. In 1924, Charles Elton described the ecology and evolution of cyclic populations in a classic paper and, since then, a major focus has been the underlying causes of population cycles. Elton hypothesised that fluctuations reduced population genetic variation and influenced the direction of selection pressures.

Kin encounter rate and inbreeding avoidance in canids.

Mating with close kin can lead to inbreeding depression through the expression of recessive deleterious alleles and loss of heterozygosity. Mate selection may be affected by kin encounter rate, and inbreeding avoidance may not be uniform but associated with age and social system. Specifically, selection for kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance may be more developed in species that live in family groups or breed cooperatively.

Pulses of movement across the sea ice: population connectivity and temporal genetic structure in the arctic fox.

Lemmings are involved in several important functions in the Arctic ecosystem. The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) can be divided into two discrete ecotypes: "lemming foxes" and "coastal foxes". Crashes in lemming abundance can result in pulses of "lemming fox" movement across the Arctic sea ice and immigration into coastal habitats in search for food.