Philopatry and dispersal patterns in tiger (Panthera tigris).

Tiger populations are dwindling rapidly making it increasingly difficult to study their dispersal and mating behaviour in the wild, more so tiger being a secretive and solitary carnivore.We used non-invasively obtained genetic data to establish the presence of 28 tigers, 22 females and 6 males, within the core area of Pench tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh. This data was evaluated along with spatial autocorrelation and relatedness analyses to understand patterns of dispersal and philopatry in tigers within this well-managed and healthy tiger habitat in India.We established male-biased dispersal and female philopatry in tigers and reiterated this finding with multiple analyses. Females show positive correlation up to 7 kms (which corresponds to an area of approximately 160 km(2)) however this correlation is significantly positive only upto 4 kms, or 50 km(2) (r  = 0.129, p<0.0125). Males do not exhibit any significant correlation in any of the distance classes within the forest (upto 300 km(2)). We also show evidence of female dispersal upto 26 kms in this landscape.Animal movements are important for fitness, reproductive success, genetic diversity and gene exchange among populations. In light of the current endangered status of tigers in the world, this study will help us understand tiger behavior and movement. Our findings also have important implications for better management of habitats and interconnecting corridors to save this charismatic species

Map showing the location of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Madhya Pradesh, India.

<p>Map showing the location of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Madhya Pradesh, India.</p

Matrix of maximum likelihood relatedness (lower triangle) and relatedness Queller and Goodnight estimator [44] (upper triangle) between PTR tigers.

<p>R value for unrelated dyads lies between −1 and 0.125, for 2^nd degree relatives between 0.125 and 0.375, and for 1^st degree relatives between 0.375 and 0.625.</p><p>F– female, M – male tiger.</p

Measures of genetic variation at studied microsatellite loci: PTR tiger population.

*<p>Effective number of alleles <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066956#pone.0066956-Kimura1" target="_blank">[40]</a>.</p>!<p>Shannon's Information index <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066956#pone.0066956-Lewontin1" target="_blank">[73]</a>.</p>#<p>PIC (Polymorphic Information Content).</p>a<p>Expected heterozygosities were computed using Levene <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066956#pone.0066956-Levene1" target="_blank">[74]</a> and Nei’s <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066956#pone.0066956-Nei1" target="_blank">[48]</a> expected heterozygosity.</p>b<p>Heterozygote deficiencies were expressed as D =  (Ho –He)/He.</p>c<p>Inbreeding coefficient (Wright's) was calculated as F = 1−Ho/He.</p

Correlogram plot of genetic correlation coefficient (<i>r</i>) as a function of distance for (A) female tigers (n = 22) and (B) male tigers (n = 6).

<p>The permuted 999% confidence intervals (broken lines) and bootstrapped 999% confidence error bars are also shown.</p