Evidence of a genetic bottleneck in an El Nino affected population of South American fur seals, Arctocephalus australis

Autor(es)

De Oliveira, Larissa Rosa ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Meyer, Diogo ; Hoffman, Joseph ^[4] ; Majluf, Patricia ^[3] ; Morgante, Joao S.

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Biol Evolut & Conservacao Vertebrados, Dept Biol Genet, Inst Biociencias, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Grp Estudos Mamiferos Aquat Rio Grande Sul, BR-90550140 Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[3] Univ Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Ctr Sostenibilidad Ambiental, Lima 18 - Peru

^[4] Univ Cambridge, Dept Zool, Cambridge CB2 3EJ - England

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom; v. 89, n. 8, p. 1717-1725, DEC 2009.
• Citações Web of Science: 11

Resumo

The South American fur seal, Arctocephalus australis, was one of the earliest otariid seals to be exploited by humans: at least 6000 years ago on the Atlantic coast and 4000 on the Pacific coast of South America. More than 750,000 fur seals were killed in Uruguay until 1991. However, a climatological phenomenon-the severe 1997-1998 El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-was responsible for the decline of 72% Of the Peruvian fur seal population due to starvation as a consequence of warming of sea-surface temperatures and primary productivity reduction. Currently, there is no precise information on global population size or on the species' conservation status. The present study includes the first bottleneck test for the Pacific and Atlantic populations of A. australis based on the analysis of seven microsatellite loci. Genetic bottleneck compromises the evolutionary potential of a population to respond to environmental changes. The perspective becomes even more alarming due to current global warming models that predict stronger and more frequent ENSO events in the future. Our analysis found moderate support for deviation from neutrality-equilibrium for the Pacific population of fur seals and none for the Atlantic population. This difference among population reflects different demographic histories, and is consistent with a greater reduction in population size in the Pacific. Such an event could be a result of the synergic effects of recurrent ENSO events and the anthropogenic impact (sealing and prey overfishing) on this population. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 07/58728-9 - Lobo-marinho sul-americano, uma ou duas espécies? investigação do status taxonômico de Arctocephalus australis (Mammalia, Carnivora, Otariidae) para a definição de políticas internacionais de manejo e conservação da espécie
• Beneficiário: Larissa Rosa de Oliveira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado