BUSKIRK, S.W.; WISELY, S.M.; RUSSELL, G.A.*; AUBRY, K.B.; ZIELINSKI, W.J.; Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071; Molecular Genetics Lab, Simithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20008; Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071; USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Olympia, WA 98512; Pacific Southwest Research Station, Arcata, CA 95521: Phylogeography of Fishers in the Pacific Northwest

The pre-settlement distribution of the fisher (Martes pennanti), a forest carnivore of boreal and temperate montane forests, has been fragmented in the southern part of its range. To better understand recent patterns of genetic exchange among five indigenous and one reintroduced fisher population in the Pacific states and British Columbia, we conducted microsatellite analyses using 8 primers developed for other mustelid species. Inferential F-statistics are consistent with a migration rate of 0.35 individuals/generation, or one animal/12 years, between all population pairs. Further, the migration rate across the northern Sierran gap shows a migration rate of 0.18 individuals/generation, or one animal/22 years. The slope of the isolation-by-distance regression using (d_&mu)² was 0.33/1000 km. Other analyses included inbreeding coefficients (F_IS), alleles/population, mean unbiased heterozygosity, and correlation of both allelic diversity and heterozygosity with latitude. When compared to closely related forest carnivores, our results indicate surprisingly high population structuring in fishers in the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, our results reveal the fisher’s low dispersal rates among geographically separated populations.