NATAL DISPERSAL AND GENETIC-STRUCTURE IN A POPULATION OF THE EUROPEANWILD RABBIT (ORYCTOLAGUS-CUNICULUS)

A combination of behavioural observation, DNA fingerprinting, and allo zyme analysis were used to examine natal dispersal in a wild rabbit po pulation. Rabbits lived in territorial, warren based social groups. Ov er a 6-year period, significantly more male than female rabbits moved to a new social group before the start of their first breeding season. This pattern of female philopatry and male dispersal was reflected in the genetic structure of the population. DNA fingerprint band-sharing coefficients were significantly higher for females within the same gr oup than for females between groups, while this was not the case for m ales. Wright's inbreeding coefficients were calculated from fingerprin t band-sharing values and compared to those obtained from allozyme dat a. There was little correlation between the relative magnitudes of the F-statistics calculated using the two techniques for comparisons betw een different social groups. In contrast, two alternative methods for calculating F-ST from DNA fingerprints gave reasonably concordant valu es although those based on band-sharing were consistently lower than t hose calculated by an 'allele' frequency approach. A negative F-IS val ue was obtained from allozyme data. Such excess heterozygosity within social groups is expected even under random mating given the social st ructure and sex-biased dispersal but it is argued that the possibility of behavioural avoidance of inbreeding should not be discounted in th is species. Estimates of genetic differentiation obtained from allozym e and DNA fingerprint data agreed closely with reported estimates for the yellow-bellied marmot, a species with a very similar social struct ure to the European rabbit.