Genetic Analysis of Dispersal and Population Dynamics of the Southeastern Coyote (Canis latrans)

Abstract

Two different types of genetic analyses, phylogeography and population genetics, were completed on coyotes (Canis latrans) across the Central Plains, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States. The first goal of this study was to infer historical dispersal patterns out of the presumed historical ranges of the Great Plains into the eastern U. S. Phylogeographic analyses using the control region of the mitochondrial genome, including a maximum likelihood tree and median-joining network, in addition to genetic diversity and differentiation indices were employed. The second goal of this study was to assess population structure of coyotes in order to identify possible management units of coyotes in Alabama. We examined patterns of gene flow of coyotes both within a 100 km radius of the Auburn/Opelika Metropolitan Statistical Area and across an urban to rural gradient created in ArcGIS using microsatellite DNA markers.