TY - JOUR
T1 - Water voles of Lake Hula
T2 - assessing their past, present, and future
AU - Marom, Nimrod
AU - Peretz, Adva Olga
AU - Lazagabaster, Ignacio A.
AU - Meiri, Meirav
AU - Meiri, Shai
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - The southernmost population of Eurasian water vole (Arvicola amphibius) inhabited Lake Hula in the upper Jordan Valley until the lake was drained in the 1950s. Considering the continuous conservation and restoration initiatives in the Hula Valley, we set out to verify the extinction of the Hula water vole population using trap surveys, field sign surveys, and owl pellets’ content. Having confirmed its recent extirpation, we used museum and archaeological specimens to study the morphological and genetic similarity of the extirpated Hula water voles to both modern conspecifics in Eurasia and to local Pleistocene specimens. Our results suggest that the Hula population represented an admixture of extinct local Pleistocene and extant, probably European, ancestors. The recent anthropogenic extirpation of this unique population could justify its reintroduction. Species distribution modelling, however, suggests future deterioration of habitat suitability over the coming decades. This calls for careful consideration of how sustainable a reintroduction would be.
AB - The southernmost population of Eurasian water vole (Arvicola amphibius) inhabited Lake Hula in the upper Jordan Valley until the lake was drained in the 1950s. Considering the continuous conservation and restoration initiatives in the Hula Valley, we set out to verify the extinction of the Hula water vole population using trap surveys, field sign surveys, and owl pellets’ content. Having confirmed its recent extirpation, we used museum and archaeological specimens to study the morphological and genetic similarity of the extirpated Hula water voles to both modern conspecifics in Eurasia and to local Pleistocene specimens. Our results suggest that the Hula population represented an admixture of extinct local Pleistocene and extant, probably European, ancestors. The recent anthropogenic extirpation of this unique population could justify its reintroduction. Species distribution modelling, however, suggests future deterioration of habitat suitability over the coming decades. This calls for careful consideration of how sustainable a reintroduction would be.
KW - Ancient DNA
KW - Arvicola
KW - Geometric morphometrics
KW - Paleobiology
KW - Species distribution modelling
KW - Water vole
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187907364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10344-024-01781-8
DO - 10.1007/s10344-024-01781-8
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AN - SCOPUS:85187907364
SN - 1612-4642
VL - 70
JO - European Journal of Wildlife Research
JF - European Journal of Wildlife Research
IS - 2
M1 - 34
ER -