Temporal variation of the genetic diversity of a German red deer population between 1960 and 2012

This study investigates the genetic development of the German Krofdorfer Forst red deer population, located in the federal state of Hesse, by genotyping red deer hunted between 1960 and 1984 (“ancient” population) and between 2002 and 2012 (“extant” population). Krofdorfer Forst belongs to the smaller red deer areas in Hesse, with a census size in spring of 200 animals and is surrounded by areas designated as free of red deer. Because of this “island” position, it should be evaluated whether there was a significant decrease in genetic diversity over time. DNA extracted from bone shavings of antlers and skulls was genotyped with 16 unlinked microsatellites. In the “ancient” population, 131 alleles were detected, from which 39 were private alleles which disappeared from the “extant” population over time. On the other hand, the “extant” population had 112 alleles, from which 20 were new alleles acquired between 1984 and 2012. This means a net loss of 19 alleles over time in the “extant” population. Despite this decrease in genetic diversity, there was a high number of effective alleles as compared to red deer populations in Bavaria. Furthermore, the low F value of 0.032 indicates low (or no) inbreeding and thus a likewise extremely low probability of deleterious alleles to become fixed. Using demographic data obtained from the red deer association of the Krofdorfer Forst, the effective population size was calculated to be 73, which reflects an increase in inbreeding of only 0.7 % per generation which confirms the low F value.