DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mbp
title: Data from: Genetic analysis of red deer (Cervus elaphus) administrative management units in a human-dominated landscape - patterns of genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow

description: Red deer (Cervus elaphus) throughout central Europe are impacted by
 different anthropogenic activities including habitat fragmentation,
 selective hunting, and translocations. This has substantial influences on
 genetic diversity and the long-term conservation of local populations of
 this species. Here we use genetic samples from 480 red deer individuals to
 assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of the 12 administrative
 management units located in Schleswig Holstein, the northernmost federal
 state in Germany. We applied multiple analytical approaches and
 show that the history of local populations (i.e., translocations, culling
 of individuals outside of designated red deer zones, and anthropogenic
 infrastructures) has led to comparably low levels of genetic diversity.
 The mean expected heterozygosity was below 0.6 and we observed on average
 4.2 alleles across 12 microsatellite loci. Effective population sizes
 below the recommended level of 50 were estimated for multiple local
 populations. Our estimates of genetic structure and gene flow show that
 red deer in northern Germany are best described as a complex network of
 asymmetrically connected subpopulations, with high genetic exchange among
 some local populations and reduced connectivity of others. Genetic
 diversity was also correlated with population densities of neighboring
 management units. Based on these findings, we suggest that connectivity
 among existing management units needs to be considered in the practical
 management of the species, which means that some administrative management
 units should be managed together, while the effective isolation of other
 units needs to be mitigated.
description: # Genetic analysis of red deer (Cervus elaphus) administrative management
 units in a human-dominated landscape 
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mbp](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mbp) Genetic data of 480 red deer (*Cervus elaphus*) individuals used throughout this study as well as information on the used samples. ## Description of the data and file structure ***gendata_reddeer_northern_germany.csv*** Biallelic dataset of 12 microsatellite markers (*INRA6*, *C143*, *T115, C180*, *C229, T107*, *Haut14*, *ILSTS06*, *BM757, CSSM14*, *FSBH*, and *BM1818*) for 480 individuals from Northern Germany. The first column indicates the ID for each individual. Following that, there are two columns for each marker site, representing the two allele expressions. Missing values are denoted by "NA". **samples_final_info_reddeer_northern_germany.csv** Metadata for the sampled red deer individuals. Alongside the ID, the Management Unit from which the sample originates, the hunting year (beginning on April 1st and ending on March 30th of the following year) in which the sample was obtained, and the person responsible for sampling are provided (“sampling”). If available, information on gender (“sex”) and age class (calf, yearling, mid age, old) is also listed.