Landscape genetics of southwestern coyotes
This research involves autosomal and Y chromosome microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses of 2,000+ coyotes throughout California. Radiotelemetry and mark-release studies have provided limited information on dispersal distances of coyotes, but lack the sample size and spatial scale to inform how coyotes disperse relative to landscape features. Although coyotes are found in virtually every type of habitat found in California, it does not necessarily follow that coyotes disperse in random directions. The central hypothesis of this research is that conservative habitat selection behavior of individuals leads to highly structured populations in heterogeneous landscapes but that long-distance dispersal homogenizes populations in more homogeneous landscapes. Using radiotelemetry at a focal site and DNA samples from >2,000 coyotes throughout the Southwest, this research has thus far demonstrated (1) individuals preferentially disperse and presumably breed within habitats similar to their natal habitats; consequently, (2) population genetic structure corresponds to the many discretely bounded habitat bioregions within the 
California Floristic Province, and, conversely, (3) in the absence of a sharply dissected landscape, in particular, the southwestern deserts and prairies, the population genetic structure is homogenized by high gene flow associated with unobstructed, long-distance dispersal. While it is widely appreciated that the California Floristic Province and other long-lived heterogeneous landscapes have been evolutionarily important with respect to diversification of less mobile organisms, these findings suggest that these regions may have played a key role in the diversification of highly mobile organisms as well.
Collaborators
Brian Mitchell (UC Berkeley), Christen Williams (USDA/APHIS/WS/NWRC), Erin Boysdston (USGS), Seth Riley (US Park Service), Lisa Lyren (USGS), Sarah Brown (UC Davis), Holly Ernest (UC Davis), Bruno Chomel (UC Davis), Danika Bannasch (UC Davis), Dairen Simpson (freelance predator expert), Vickie Kramer (Calif. Dept Health Services), Eric Gese (Utah State Univ., USDA/APHIS/WS/NWRC), Jerry Wiscomb (USDA/Wildlife Services), Craig Coolahan (USDA/Wildlife Services), many, many Wildlife Services specialists
Funding
This research was funded primarily by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory of UC Davis, and from grants from the UCD Genetic Resources Conservation Project.
Publications
Sacks, B. N., H. B. Ernest, and E. E. Boydston. 2006. Could San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge historically distinct coyote (Canis latrans) populations? Western North American Naturalist. 66:263-264.
Sacks, B. N., B. R. Mitchell, C. L. Williams, and H. B. Ernest. 2005. Coyote movements and social structure along a cryptic population genetic subdivision. Molecular Ecology 14:1241-1249.
Sacks, B. N., S. K. Brown, and H. B. Ernest. 2004. Population structure of California coyotes corresponds to habitat-specific breaks and illuminates species history. Molecular Ecology 13:1265-1275.