PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #92: Conservation Ecology: Genetics, population viability, interactions.
Presiding: W. Wirtz
Thursday, August 8. 1:00 PM to 3:45 PM. Grand Ballroom West, Radisson.

Effects of habitat preferences and competition with coyotes on introgression and extinction in red wolves.

FREDRICKSON, RICHARD^*,1, ¹ Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

ABSTRACT- One of the greatest biological challenges faced by managers seeking to restore wild populations of red wolves Canis rufus, is preventing hybridization with coyotes Canis latrans. Hybrids between these species produce fertile offspring with no evidence of hybrid breakdown. Consequently, hybridization may result in introgression of coyote genetic material into the red wolf genome and ultimately to extinction of red wolves when no genetically pure individuals remain. Here, I use individually explicit simulations to better understand the factors affecting coyote introgression into the reintroduced population of wild red wolves in North Carolina. Specifically I contrast the numbers of red wolf pairs and the ancestry of the hybrid population over time and the extinction rate of wolves in simulations with and without habitat selection and competition. In simulations without habitat preferences and in which wolves, coyotes and their hybrids are competitively neutral, introgression proceeds rapidly and red wolves quickly become extinct unless there is strong management intervention (e.g. sterilization of hybrid and coyote breeders). With habitat preferences and differences in competitive ability, the outcome of a range of conditions are explored including hybrid inferiority and selective hybrid superiority.

KEY WORDS: red wolf, introgression, competition, extinction