Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: all
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Delineating wildlife population boundaries is important for effective population monitoring and management. The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is a highly mobile generalist carnivore that is ecologically and economically important. We sampled 1,215 bobcats harvested in South Dakota, USA, (2014–2019) and used 17 microsatellite loci to assess genetic diversity and infer population genetic structure. We assigned individuals to genetic clusters (K) using spatial and nonspatial Bayesian clustering algorithms, and quantified differentiation (F_ST and G”_ST) among clusters. Across loci, mean allelic richness was 10.8 (range: 7–19) and mean expected heterozygosity (0.80) exceeded mean observed heterozygosity (0.74). We found support for population genetic structure at K = 2 and K = 4, with pairwise F_ST and G”_ST values indicating weak to moderate differentiation, respectively, among clusters. For K = 2, eastern and western clusters aligned closely with historical bobcat management units and were consistent with a longitudinal suture zone for bobcats previously identified in the Great Plains. We did not observe patterns of population genetic structure aligning with major rivers or highways. However, genetic divergence observed at K = 4 aligned roughly with ecoregion breaks and may be associated with environmental gradients. Our findings indicated that despite having a broad distribution, high movement capacity, and generalist tendencies, bobcats in South Dakota were not a single panmictic population. Rather, bobcats were genetically differentiated into eastern and western populations, with evidence of further differentiation within the western population.