Recent studies on different species of lynx in the Scandinavian region have discovered a relationship between their genetic differentiation and geographical distribution. Because the Eurasian lynx avoids migrating through large areas, it is susceptible to forming various packs isolated by long distances. Two groups of lynx populations went under research. The first group were from the more central geographical range of the species including Latvia and Estonia, and the second from the more western and more recent habitats of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The research hypothesised that the lynx from the more western regions would have had less contact with the centrally located lynx, because of the vast distance between the two habitats, and thus would have less genetic material in common with them.64 Eurasian lynx samples were collected from the three regions of NE Poland, Latvia and Estonia, including tissue from dead lynx and blood of live lynx. These samples were analysed using different technology, and from the results scientists could determine allelic richness (number of alleles on a chromosome), allele frequency, molecular variance and the genotypes of the lynx studied.
From the results the allelic richness was identified to be the lowest in the lynx from NE Poland compared to that of the Latvian and Estonian lynx. This set of results corresponded with the original hypothesis because of the distribution of the lynx populations. However, it was also found that heterozygosity (having two different alleles of a given gene) of the Polish lynx was not lower than that of the other two groups, despite these lynx being located in the core range of Eurasian lynx. This can be explained by the history of this species, which includes two near extinction occurrences causing immigration of lynx packs and thus higher variability throughout the genome.
From the analysis of the populations of Eurasian lynx it can be determined that there is a difference within the genetic material of lynx from Poland and other habitats further west of the central area of Latvia and Estonia. This difference is mainly lower allele richness between the two genomes studied, and thus there are limitations of allele transfer within the more isolated species, which may mean protection of the population in years to come.
Source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/463qg63r23r00m86/fulltext.pdf
