IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Valdez, F.P. | |
| Gen‚tica de popula‡äes de on‡a-pintada (_Panthera onca_) em biomas brasileiros | |
| 2010 Full Book | |
The jaguar is the largest predator in the Americas, and currently persists in less than 50% of its original distribution. Also, many remnant areas do not contain sufficient habitat and prey base to hold viable populations in the long term. In Brazil, the Amazon Basin and the Pantanal are the largest areas of the current distribution of the species, and where populations with high probability of long-term survival are still found. However, little is known about the dynamics of jaguar populations in these biomes, and thus population-genetic analyses are extremely necessary. The present study aimed to analyze 52 individuals sampled in the southern Pantanal from 2001 and 2008 to make genetic inferences on jaguar populations, as well as to compare them to previously investigated fragments in the Atlantic Forest biome, where high levels of structuring had been found. We estimated genetic differentiation among populations using an AMOVA approach to generate Fst and Rst indices. Population structuring analyses were also performed with the Bayesian approach implemented in the software STRUCTURE. Variability indices were quite high, and comparable to those found for the species when analyzed under on a phylogeographic scale. When Pantanal populations were assessed separately, a single genetic cluster was inferred, supporting the expectation of demographic connectivity throughout this area. However, when Atlantic Forest jaguars were also included in the analysis, the Pantanal population was divided into two groups, probably due to relatedness among some of the sampled individuals, combined with complex historical admixture with respect to transitional areas between the two biomes. One such area was likely the region adjacent to Porto Primavera dam, on the bank of the upper Paran river, whose population has already been extirpated due to human activities. Results obtained in the present study support the idea that, in the past, there was genetic connectivity between populations from the Pantanal and the Upper Paran region, which helps provide baseline data to aid in the design of adequate management actions that may reconnect these biomes. Moreover, the data shown here represent the first jaguar sampling of a genetically healthy local population, and may be used as a comparative reference for the evaluation and monitoring of the observed variability in fragmented regions. |
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