17 research outputs found
Unexpected and undesired conservation outcomes of wildlife trade bans—An emerging problem for stakeholders?
CITES regulates international trade with the goal of preventing over-exploitation, thus the survival of species are not jeopardized from trade practices; however it has been used recently in nontrade conservation measures. As an example, the US proposed to up-list polar bears under CITES Appendix I, despite that the species did not conform to the biological criteria. Polar bears were listed as ‘threatened’ under US ESA in 2008, in response to loss of sea-ice and warming temperatures. In Nunavut, where most of Canada’s polar bears are harvested, the resulting trade ban did not decrease total harvest after the ESA listing but reduced US hunter participation and the proportion of quotas taken by sport hunters from specific populations. Consequently, the import ban impacted livelihoods of Arctic indigenous communities with negative conservation — reduced tolerance for dangerous fauna and affected local participation in shared management initiatives. The polar bear may be the exemplar of an emerging problem: the use of trade bans in place of action for non-trade threats, e.g., climate change. Conservation prospects for this species and other climate-sensitive wildlife will likely diminish if the increasing use of trade bans to combat non-trade issues cause stakeholders to lose faith in participatory management
The Muskox Lost a Substantial Part of Its Genetic Diversity on Its Long Road to Greenland
Free-living, psychrotrophic bacteria of the genus Psychrobacter are descendents of pathobionts
Host-adapted microorganisms are generally assumed to have evolved
from free-living, environmental microorganisms, as examples of the reverse process
are rare. In the phylum Gammaproteobacteria, family Moraxellaceae, the genus
Psychrobacter includes strains from a broad ecological distribution including animal
bodies as well as sea ice and other nonhost environments. To elucidate the relationship
between these ecological niches and Psychrobacter’s evolutionary history, we
performed tandem genomic analyses with phenotyping of 85 Psychrobacter accessions.
Phylogenomic analysis of the family Moraxellaceae reveals that basal members of
the Psychrobacter clade are Moraxella spp., a group of often-pathogenic organisms.
Psychrobacter exhibited two broad growth patterns in our phenotypic screen: one group
that we called the “flexible ecotype” (FE) had the ability to grow between 4 and 37°C,
and the other, which we called the “restricted ecotype” (RE), could grow between 4 and
25°C. The FE group includes phylogenetically basal strains, and FE strains exhibit
increased transposon copy numbers, smaller genomes, and a higher likelihood to be
bile salt resistant. The RE group contains only phylogenetically derived strains and has
increased proportions of lipid metabolism and biofilm formation genes, functions that
are adaptive to cold stress. In a 16S rRNA gene survey of polar bear fecal samples, we
detect both FE and RE strains, but in in vivo colonizations of gnotobiotic mice, only FE
strains persist. Our results indicate the ability to grow at 37°C, seemingly necessary for
mammalian gut colonization, is an ancestral trait for Psychrobacter, which likely evolved
from a pathobiont
Optimization of novel polymorphic microsatellites in the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
Loss of habitat and poaching have led to a drastic reduction in numbers of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). To aid in the conservation management of this species, we isolated and optimized 10 polymorphic Sumatran rhinoceros microsatellite loci. A survey of six individuals yielded a mean number of alleles of 3.7, mean expected heterozygosity of 0.551 and probability of identity of 3.46 × 10−8. Although this estimate is similar to estimates of microsatellite variability in the Black, Indian and White rhinoceroses, such a conclusion is premature as locus purity, sample size and number of loci surveyed vary significantly among studies.Molecular work was funded by an NSERC grant to P.T.B. and an NSF grant to J.C.M. and D.J.M.Peer reviewe
Polymorphic microsatellites in white rhinoceros
The southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) has suffered severe reductions in population size over the last 150 years as a result of overhunting. We optimized 10 southern white rhinoceros microsatellite loci and tested them on 30 individuals from the largest remaining population of this species. Five of the 10 loci were polymorphic with mean expected heterozygosity of 0.578, mean polymorphic information content of 0.481 and mean number of alleles 2.8. Although these data suggest low genetic variability in C. s. simum, an accurate comparison of variability awaits results of ongoing broad-scale microsatellite surveys in this family.AF was funded by an NSERC summer internship (Canada). Molecular work was funded by an NSERC grant to PTB and an NSF grant to DM.Peer reviewe
Data from Campagna et al 2013 Ecology and Evolution
Microsatellite data set and all Structure, Geneland, Arlequin and IMa2 input files
Data from: Genetic structure and diversity among historic and modern populations of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), once widespread across Southeast Asia, now consists of as few as 30 individuals within Sumatra and Borneo. To aid in conservation planning, we sequenced 218 bp of control region mitochondrial (mt) DNA, identifying 17 distinct mitochondrial haplotypes across modern (N = 13) and museum (N = 26) samples. Museum specimens from Laos and Myanmar had divergent mtDNA, consistent with the placement of western mainland rhinos into the distinct subspecies D. s. lasiotis (presumed extinct). Haplotypes from Bornean rhinos were highly diverse, but dissimilar from those of other regions, supporting the distinctiveness of the subspecies D. s. harrissoni. Rhinos from Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia shared mtDNA haplotypes, consistent with their traditional placement into a single subspecies D. s sumatrensis. Modern samples of D. s. sumatrensis were genotyped at 18 microsatellite loci. Rhinos within Sumatra formed two sub-populations, likely separated by the Barisan Mountains, though with only modest genetic differentiation between them. There are so few remaining Sumatran rhinoceros that separate management strategies for subspecies or subpopulations may not be viable, while each surviving rhino pedigree is likely to retain alleles found in no other individuals. Given the low population size and low reproductive potential of Sumatran rhinos, rapid genetic erosion is inevitable, while an under-appreciated concern is the potential for fixation of harmful genetic variants. Both concerns underscore two overriding priorities for the species: (1) translocation of wild rhinos to ex situ facilities, and (2) collection and storage of gametes and cell lines from every surviving captive and wild individual
Appendix B. Additional information related to the population model.
Additional information related to the population model