Genetic structure of the sable (Martes zibellina Linnaeus, 1758) at the Amur region: cluster analysis of subpopulations

The Amur region sable sub-populations monitoring of the allelic composition in the hunting seasons of 2011-2021 showed the presence of alleles marking the differences between the sable population at the Amur River left and right banks. A pairwise comparison of seasonal collections of left- and right-bank sub-populations revealed a spread in the level of genetic differentiation from almost zero values to intermediate ones. It became clear that in order to determine the number of different genetic groups of sable in this region, we need additional mathematical methods to work with the obtained data. The purpose of this work is to determine and visualize the most likely number of different genetic groups of sables in the territory under consideration. It was studied three sub-populations of the Bureinsky Highland sable (left bank of the Amur River). For comparison, it was taken a species sub-population from the Sikhote-Alin western slopes (the Amur River right bank). The analysis of data for two microsatellite loci Ma3 and Mer041, on the material of hunting winter seasons from 2011 to 2022, was carried out using the programs Structure 2.3.4 and Structure Harvester. Based on the results obtained with these programs, it can be assumed that in the territory under consideration, this species is represented by two genetic groups (clusters) - “the left-bank” and “the right-bank”. The structure remains the same for both the collection material of the 2012-2013 winter hunting seasons and those of 2013-2014, as well as for the total collections of 2011-2022. The formation of such a structure is undoubtedly the result of both the historical formation of the species habitat and the genetic specifics of anthropogenic introductions from two different geographical areas.