Do rivers influence fine-scale population genetic structure of tigers in the Sundarbans?

Global tiger Panthera tigris populations mostly survive within the geographically fragmented forest patches, thereby limited genetic exchange between isolated populations. Assessing the genetic status of these populations can reveal the effects of dispersal barriers and provide critical insights to guide future conservation actions. Using non-invasively collected biological samples, we investigated fine-scale genetic structure of tigers in the Sundarbans mangrove forests intersected by the complex river systems, and which holds one of the largest global tiger populations. We genotyped 52 tiger samples at 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci, and sequenced 33 of them for a total of 1,263 base-pairs at four mitochondrial gene fragments. Microsatellite analyses exhibit a signature of fine-scale genetic structure, which might have been the consequence of limited tiger dispersal due to wide rivers across the Sundarbans. Similarly, mitochondrial data show a historic pattern of population isolat...

全球虎（Panthera tigris）种群大多残存于地理破碎化的森林斑块中，致使隔离种群间的基因交流受限。评估此类种群的遗传现状，可揭示扩散障碍所产生的影响，并为指导未来的保护行动提供关键洞见。本研究采用非侵入性采集的生物样本，对受复杂河网交错的孙德尔本斯（Sundarbans）红树林中的虎种群开展了精细尺度的遗传结构分析——该区域拥有全球规模最大的虎种群之一。我们对52份虎样本的10个多态性微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）进行了基因分型，并对其中33份样本的4个线粒体基因片段（mitochondrial gene fragments）共计1263个碱基对完成了测序。微卫星分析结果呈现出精细尺度遗传结构的特征，这或源于孙德尔本斯区域内宽阔河道对虎扩散的限制。同样，线粒体数据也展现出种群隔离的历史模式……