GENETIC EVIDENCE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CURRENT BEAVER ( Castor fiber ) POPULATION IN LOWER AUSTRIA

Beside European beavers (Castor fiber) from Poland, Belarus and Sweden also individuals of C. canadensis have been released to the Austrian Danube watershed east of Vienna during the years 1976 and 1990. Based on reintroduction activities the Lower Austrian beaver population developed well to a current size of more than 3000 individuals. However, it remains ambiguous, which of the originally released animals account for this success. Here, we present mitochondrial (mt) DNA data to answer the questions whether C. canadensis is still traceable in Lower Austria and which intraspecific lineages of C. fiber are currently present? Our Maximum Likelihood (ML) analysis based on 81 newly generated DNA sequences from the mitochondrial control region plus 30 reference beaver samples from the literature, revealed no evidence for the existence of C. canadensis in Lower Austria. With respect to C. fiber, three different intraspecific lineages (mainly corresponding to different subspecies) were identified. While the majority of samples represent either Scandinavian (subsp. fiber) or Central European beavers (likely C. f. albicus x belorussicus/orientoeuropaeus), one sample of C. f. pohlei was rather genetically distinct and unexpected from the documented reintroduction history. In addition, possible hybridisation among intraspecific beaver lineages is discussed, although the maternally inherited mtDNA analysed here did not give the ultimate answer to this question.