Fine-scale population structure and connectivity of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, in European waters and implications for conservation

Funding: Fyssen post-doctoral fellowship, Fondation Total, a bridge funding from the School of Biology of the University of St Andrews and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (ML).1. Protecting species often involves the designation of protected areas, wherein suitable management strategies are applied either at the taxon or ecosystem level. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) have been created in European waters under the Habitats Directive to protect bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, which forms two ecotypes, pelagic and coastal. 2. The SACs have been designated in coastal waters based on photo‐identification studies that have indicated that bottlenose dolphins have relatively high site fidelity. However, individuals can carry out long‐distance movements, which suggests potential for demographic connectivity between the SACs as well as with other areas. 3. Connectivity can be studied using genetic markers. Previous studies on the species in this area used different sets of genetic markers and therefore inference on the fine‐scale population structure and demographic connectivity has not yet been made at a large scale. A common set of microsatellite markers was used in this study to provide the first comprehensive estimate of genetic structure of bottlenose dolphins in European Atlantic waters. 4. As in previous studies, a high level of genetic differentiation was found between coastal and pelagic populations. Genetic structure was defined at an unprecedented fine‐scale level for coastal dolphins, leading to identification of five distinct coastal populations inhabiting the following areas: Shannon estuary, west coast of Ireland, English Channel, coastal Galicia, east coast of Scotland and Wales/west Scotland. Demographic connectivity was very low among most populations with <10% migration rate, suggesting no demographic coupling among them. Each local population should therefore be monitored separately. 5. The results of this study have the potential to be used to identify management units for bottlenose dolphins in this region and thus offer a significant contribution to the conservation of the species in European Atlantic waters. Future studies should prioritize obtaining biopsies from free‐living dolphins from areas where only samples from stranded animals were available, i.e. Wales, west Scotland and Galicia, in order to reduce uncertainty caused by sample origin doubt, as well as from areas not included in this study (e.g. Iroise Sea, France). Furthermore, future management strategies should include monitoring local population dynamics and could also consider other options, such as population viability analysis or the incorporation of genetic data with ecological data (e.g. stable isotope analysis) in the designation of management units.PostprintPeer reviewe

Inter-species differences in polychlorinated biphenyls patterns from five sympatric species of odontocetes : Can PCBs be used as tracers of feeding ecology?

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of volunteers from the Galician (CEMMA) and Portuguese (SPVS) stranding networks. The authors would like to thank R. Gallois and C. Trichet for their participation on total lipid content analysis. P. Méndez-Fernandez was supported during the research period through a PhD grant from the Fundação do Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia de Portugal and ANIMATE project (SFRH/BD/36766/2007) and through a Science Without Borders (CSF) young talent postdoctoral grant of the Brazilian government. G. J. Pierce acknowledges support from the EU ANIMATE project (MEXC-CT-2006-042337), University of Aveiro and Caixa Geral de Depósitos (Portugal).Peer reviewedPostprin

marmap: A Package for Importing, Plotting and Analyzing Bathymetric and Topographic Data in R

In this communication we introduce marmap, a package designed for downloading, plotting and manipulating bathymetric and topographic data in R. marmap can query the ETOPO1 bathymetry and topography database hosted by the NOAA, use simple latitude-longitude-depth data in ascii format, and take advantage of the advanced plotting tools available in R to build publication-quality bathymetric maps. Functions to query data (bathymetry, sampling information…) are available interactively by clicking on marmap maps. Bathymetric and topographic data can also be used to calculate projected surface areas within specified depth/altitude intervals, and constrain the calculation of realistic shortest path distances. Such information can be used in molecular ecology, for example, to evaluate genetic isolation by distance in a spatially-explicit framework

Expansion d'aire et processus d'introductions biologiques en milieu marin (le cas de Cyclope neritea (nassariidae) sur les côtes françaises)

L'aire de distribution des espèces évolue en fonction de facteurs biotiques et abiotiques, y compris sur de courtes échelles de temps. Récemment, deux facteurs ont vu leur rôle s'accroître : (i) la température (en relation avec le changement climatique global) et (ii) les activités humaines responsables notamment d'altérations des habitats, de pollutions et d'introductions biologiques. Au cours de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'évolution récente de l'aire de distribution du gastéropode nassariidae Cyclope neritea, apparu il y a trente ans sur les côtes françaises de l'Atlantique et de la Manche, dans le prolongement direct de son aire de distribution naturelle. Autour de la péninsule ibérique, une étude de terrain a confirmé l'instabilité des populations de cette espèce dans cette région. En outre, la discontinuité d'habitat, et les propriétés biologiques de l'espèce semblent indiquer que l'expansion récente de l'aire de distribution de C. neritea serait le fait d'introductions biologiques. L'analyse du polymorphisme d'un locus mitochondrial (fragment de 533 paires de bases du gène codant pour la Cytochrome Oxydase I) et de quatre locus microsatellites nous a révélé une forte structure phylogéographique, attendue chez une espèce à développement direct. Cette structure nous a permis de démontrer que l'apparition de populations en bordure de l'aire naturelle de l'espèce met principalement en jeu des processus d'introductions récurrents trouvant leur source dans plusieurs régions génétiquement divergentes de l'aire naturelle. Cependant, l'hypothèse d'une présence de populations peu denses et cryptiques issues d'une dispersion naturelle Sud-Nord ne peut pas être totalement exclue. L'évolution récente de l'aire de distribution de C. neritea témoigne ainsi de la synergie entre processus naturels et anthropiques sur des échelles de temps historiques et contemporaines.LA ROCHELLE-BU (173002101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Contents

Making and using bathymetric maps in R with marma