Monitoring of the Genetic Structure of the Sable Population ( Martes zibellina Linnaeus, 1758) in the Middle Amur Region

Based on the analysis of microsatellite loci Ma3 and Mer041 , the genetic structure of the sable population of the Middle Amur region was monitored. Materials obtained by hunters in winter seasons from 2011 to 2021 were studied. Three geographic subpopulations of sable from the Bureya Highlands and one from the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin Ridge are considered. It was shown that the group of specific alleles characterizing the differences between the sable populations of the Bureya Highlands and the Sikhote-Alin Ridge is represented by four alleles. The monitoring of two microsatellite loci in the subpopulations of the Bureya Highlands showed a higher allelic diversity in the northern autochthonous population compared to the more southern ones, which arose as a result of dispersal of the northern subpopulation in the first half of the 20th century. The relative homogeneity of the population structure of the sable of the Bureya Highlands is shown, which does not lead to a statistically significant level of differentiation of subpopulations either in space or in time. A different character of the dynamics of allelic diversity in the subpopulations of the left bank (Bureya Highlands) and right bank (Sikhote-Alin Ridge) of the Amur River was found. It was hypothesized that temporal heterogeneity in the Sikhote-Alin subpopulation may indicate the existence of a spatially heterogeneous population structure on the eastern slopes of the Sikhote-Alin Ridge that formed from descendants and possible hybrids of autochthonous and introduced forms. The influence of the anthropogenic factor on the genetic structure dynamics is considered.