Population History and Northern Recolonization in a Generalist Carnivore: The Scandinavian Red Fox

Historical events are important factors influencing the present distribution and possibly also the ecological niche of many species and populations. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a classical generalist species, distributed from deserts to Arctic tundra. Little is however known about the history of red foxes in Scandinavia, where red foxes are distributed from nemoral forest in the south to Arctic tundra in the north. The Scandinavian Peninsula was covered by ice during the last glacial maximum. Using mitochondrial and Y chromosome data, we investigate where red foxes survived the last ice age and how Scandinavia was recolonized when the ice sheet melted. We specifically test for the occurrence of a southern, eastern or cryptic, northern refugium and discuss its’ impact on present ecology.