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Investigating population genetic structure in a highly mobile marine organism: the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata in the North East Atlantic.

ABSTRACT: Inferring the number of genetically distinct populations and their levels of connectivity is of key importance for the sustainable management and conservation of wildlife. This represents an extra challenge in the marine environment where there are few physical barriers to gene-flow, and populations may overlap in time and space. Several studies have investigated the population genetic structure within the North Atlantic minke whale with contrasting results. In order to address this issue, we analyzed ten microsatellite loci and 331 bp of the mitochondrial D-loop on 2990 whales sampled in the North East Atlantic in the period 2004 and 2007-2011. The primary findings were: (1) No spatial or temporal genetic differentiations were observed for either class of genetic marker. (2) mtDNA identified three distinct mitochondrial lineages without any underlying geographical pattern. (3) Nuclear markers showed evidence of a single panmictic population in the NE Atlantic according STRUCTURE's highest average likelihood found at K = 1. (4) When K = 2 was accepted, based on the Evanno's test, whales were divided into two more or less equally sized groups that showed significant genetic differentiation between them but without any sign of underlying geographic pattern. However, mtDNA for these individuals did not corroborate the differentiation. (5) In order to further evaluate the potential for cryptic structuring, a set of 100 in silico generated panmictic populations was examined using the same procedures as above showing genetic differentiation between two artificially divided groups, similar to the aforementioned observations. This demonstrates that clustering methods may spuriously reveal cryptic genetic structure. Based upon these data, we find no evidence to support the existence of spatial or cryptic population genetic structure of minke whales within the NE Atlantic. However, in order to conclusively evaluate population structure within this highly mobile species, more markers will be required.

SUBMITTER: Quintela M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4182549 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundCitizen science is increasingly popular and has the potential to collect extensive datasets at lower costs than traditional surveys conducted by professional scientists. Ferries have been used to collect data on cetacean populations for decades, providing long-term time series for monitoring of cetacean populations. One cetacean species of concern is the common dolphin, which has been found stranded around the north-east Atlantic in recent years, with high numbers on French coasts being attributed to fisheries bycatch. We estimate common dolphin densities in the north-east Atlantic and investigate the ability of citizen science data to identify changes in marine mammal densities and areas of importance.Materials and methodsData were collected by citizen scientists on ferries between April and October in 2006-2017. Common dolphin sightings data from two ferry routes across three regions, Bay of Biscay (n = 569); south-west United Kingdom to the Isles of Scilly in the Celtic Sea (n = 260); and English Channel (n = 75), were used to estimate density across ferry routes. Two-stage Density Surface Models accounted for imperfect detection, and tested the influence of environmental (chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature, depth, and slope), spatial (latitude and longitude) and temporal terms (year and Julian day) on occurrence.ResultsOverall detection probability was highest in the areas sampled within the English Channel (0.384) and Bay of Biscay (0.348), and lowest on the Scilly's route (0.158). Common dolphins were estimated to occur in higher densities on the Scilly's route (0.400 per km2) and the Bay of Biscay (0.319 per km2), with low densities in the English Channel (0.025 per km2). Densities on the Scilly's route appear to have been relatively stable since 2006 with a slight decrease in 2017. Densities peaked in the Bay of Biscay in 2013 with lower numbers since. Densities in the English Channel appear to have increased over time since 2009.DiscussionThis study highlights the effectiveness of citizen science data to investigate the distribution and density of cetaceans. The densities and temporal changes shown by this study are representative of those from wider-ranging robust estimates. We highlight the ability of citizen science to collect data over extensive periods of time which complements dedicated, designed surveys. Such long-term data are important to identify changes within a population; however, citizen science data may, in some situations, present challenges. We provide recommendations to ensure high-quality data which can be used to inform management and conservation of cetacean populations.

Dataset Information

Investigating population genetic structure in a highly mobile marine organism: the minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata acutorostrata in the North East Atlantic.

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