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Tigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?

2015-04-28Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorSingh, Sujeet Kumar
dc.contributor.authorMishra, Sudhanshu
dc.contributor.authorAspi, Jouni
dc.contributor.authorKvist, Laura
dc.contributor.authorNigam, Parag
dc.contributor.authorPandey, Puneet
dc.contributor.authorSharma, Reeta
dc.contributor.authorGoyal, Surendra Prakash
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-15T15:35:19Z
dc.date.available2015-10-15T15:35:19Z
dc.date.issued2015-04-28
dc.description.abstractThe Sundarbans tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat and are morphologically distinct from the recognized tiger subspecies in terms of skull morphometrics and body size. Thus, there is an urgent need to assess their ecological and genetic distinctiveness and determine if Sundarbans tigers should be defined and managed as separate conservation unit. We utilized nine microsatellites and 3 kb from four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes to estimate genetic variability, population structure, demographic parameters and visualize historic and contemporary connectivity among tiger populations from Sundarbans and mainland India. We also evaluated the traits that determine exchangeability or adaptive differences among tiger populations. Data from both markers suggest that Sundarbans tiger is not a separate tiger subspecies and should be regarded as Bengal tiger (P. t. tigris) subspecies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA data revealed reciprocal monophyly. Genetic differentiation was found stronger for mtDNA than nuclear DNA. Microsatellite markers indicated low genetic variation in Sundarbans tigers (He= 0.58) as compared to other mainland populations, such as northern and Peninsular (Hebetween 0.67- 0.70). Molecular data supports migration between mainland and Sundarbans populations until very recent times. We attribute this reduction in gene flow to accelerated fragmentation and habitat alteration in the landscape over the past few centuries. Demographic analyses suggest that Sundarbans tigers have diverged recently from peninsular tiger population within last 2000 years. Sundarbans tigers are the most divergent group of Bengal tigers, and ecologically non-exchangeable with other tiger populations, and thus should be managed as a separate "evolutionarily significant unit" (ESU) following the adaptive evolutionary conservation (AEC) concept.pt_PT
dc.description.sponsorshipWildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun (India).pt_PT
dc.identifier10.1371/journal.pone.0118846
dc.identifier.citationSingh SK, Mishra S, Aspi J, Kvist L, Nigam P, Pandey P, et al. (2015) Tigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0118846. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0118846pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0118846
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/406
dc.language.isoengpt_PT
dc.peerreviewedyespt_PT
dc.publisherPLOSpt_PT
dc.relation.publisherversionhttp://www.plosone.org/article/Authors/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0118846pt_PT
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/pt_PT
dc.subjectTigerspt_PT
dc.subjectPopulation Geneticspt_PT
dc.titleTigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?pt_PT
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage25pt_PT
oaire.citation.issue4pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage1pt_PT
oaire.citation.titlePLOS Onept_PT
oaire.citation.volume10pt_PT
rcaap.rightsopenAccesspt_PT
rcaap.typearticlept_PT

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