Genetic population structure of red foxes Vulpes vulpes across a rural landscape: insights into population connectivity and spatial patterns

Human activities have shaped and are continuing to influence terrestrial landscapes, creating heterogenous, and often, fragmented landscapes. Generalist species, like the red fox Vulpes vulpes , show high flexibility in habitat use, and occur across the heterogeneous, anthropogenic landscapes of central Europe. Red foxes are therefore thought to form one continuous population with little genetic structure; however, studies about this are rare. To address this lack of understanding, we investigated population structure and relatedness of red foxes within and between different parts of southwest Germany, and estimated recent and past migration rates within the heterogeneous landscape. We used single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data of 126 individuals, genotyped at 81 loci, obtained by non‐invasive scat sampling from three distinct rural areas: 1) an agricultural plain, 2) a forested mountainous range, and 3) a forest‐farmland mosaic landscape. These areas differ in the predominant vegetation cover, average elevation, respective distance from each other, and local hunting pressure. Our results indicated that red foxes exhibit weak but consistent genetic structuring over a relatively small distance (i.e. 145 km). Migration rates did not reflect geographical distances. We also detected migration patterns stemming from (and between) two of the investigated areas, and also unidirectional migration patterns towards one area that match source–sink dynamics. Despite the apparent absence of migration barriers, hunting regimes could be driving the unidirectional gene flow even for an ecologically flexible species. Consequently, our results show that the (perceived) absence of obvious dispersal barriers does not necessarily imply genetically homogenous populations or random dispersal in mobile generalist species, instead formal investigations are necessary.