20.500.12556/RUP-23062 First insight into genetic diversity of two sympatric marten species between the Alps and Adriatic islands Closely related species occupying the same geographical area may exhibit markedly different genetic patterns due to differences in evolutionary history, ecology and behaviour. In this study, a population genetics approach is applied to investigate the genetic structure, diversity, and connectivity of two sympatric carnivore species, i.e., the European pine marten (Martes martes) and the stone marten (Martes foina) in Croatia and Slovenia. We analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences for both species (28 pine marten and 104 stone marten samples, respectively) and additionally investigated nuclear microsatellite markers for 182 stone martens. For stone marten, we found a significant genetic structuring, with pronounced differentiation between island and mainland populations, and a further substructure within the mainland. But no significant isolation by distance was detected (Mantel test, p = 0.15), indicating that differentiation is primarily shaped by island–mainland separation and other geographical discontinuities rather than by distance alone. In contrast, pine marten exhib- ited moderate haplotype diversity and limited spatial resolution due to the smaller sample size. These contrasting patterns underscore species-specific responses to natural geographical barriers and highlight the need to tailor management strategies accordingly. Tesno sorodne vrste, ki naseljujejo isto geografsko območje, lahko zaradi razlik v evolucijski zgodovini, ekologiji in vedenju kažejo izrazito različne genetske vzorce. V tej raziskavi smo z genetskimi analizami preučevali genetsko strukturo, genetsko raznovrstnost in povezanost populacij dveh simpatričnih vrst zveri, kune zlatice (Martes martes) in kune belice (Martes foina), na območju Hrvaške in Slovenije. Analizirali smo zaporedja mitohondrijske DNA pri obeh vrstah (28 vzorcev kune zlatice in 104 vzorcev kune belice) ter dodatno preučili jedrne mikrosatelitne označevalce pri 182 osebkih kune belice. Pri kuni belici smo ugotovili statistično značilno genetsko strukturiranost populacij z izrazito diferenciacijo med otoškimi in celinskimi populacijami ter dodatno substrukturiranost znotraj celinskega dela populacije. Kljub temu ni bila zaznana značilna izolacija z razdaljo (Mantelov test, p = 0,15), kar kaže, da genetsko diferenciacijo primarno oblikujejo ločenost med otoki in celino ter druge geografske diskontinuitete, ne pa zgolj geografska razdalja. Nasprotno pa je kuna zlatica izkazovala zmerno haplotipsko diverziteto in omejeno prostorsko ločljivost, kar je verjetno posledica manjšega vzorca analiziranih osebkov. Ti kontrastni vzorci poudarjajo vrstno specifične odzive na naravne geografske pregrade ter izpostavljajo potrebo po prilagojenih strategijah upravljanja in varstva populacij. population genetics martens haplotype microsatellites populacijska genetika kune haplotip mikrosateliti true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-05-20 10:25:50 2026-05-20 10:25:52 2026-05-21 03:10:11 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-17 4, [article no.] e0329925 [Vol.] 21 Apr. 21, 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova NiDoloceno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-04-21 575.17:591.531.2 1932-6203 10.1371/journal.pone.0329925 278748419 RAZ_Buzan_Elena_2026.pdf RAZ_Buzan_Elena_2026.pdf 1 79D7BDDDB636EC8396A023BCC76A3E0C 53298841f3b01885259658b713ea10a09ee217cc28aa2206d7f2675d2c7d8050 85be6e4a-5425-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=33701 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329925 1 69a44e71-5425-11f1-9e8d-005056ac49c0 https://repozitorij.upr.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=33700 Fakulteta za matematiko, naravoslovje in informacijske tehnologije 0 0 0