Evaluating otter reintroduction outcomes using genetic spatial capture-recapture modified for dendritic networks

River otters (Lontra canadensis) were extirpated from New Mexico by the 1950s. A limited reintroduction occurred during 2008–2010 in which 33 otters sourced from Washington (WA) were translocated to the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URG) of New Mexico. We conducted a noninvasive genetic capture-recapture survey during the winter of 2018 by collecting fecal DNA samples from river otter scats found at latrines in the URG dendritic network of perennial waterways. Our objectives were to: 1) estimate genetic diversity and effective population size; 2) genetic divergence from the WA source population and potential connectivity with regionally proximal populations; 3) spatially explicit population density and size; and 4) population growth rate since the founder event. Between February and April 2018, we collected 1,184 fecal DNA samples from 622 individual scats at 20 latrines; genotyping was attempted at 10 otter-specific microsatellite loci for a subsample of 543 samples. A bottlenecking founder ..., Scat samples were collected from a reintroduced population of North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) via a capture-recapture survey design in the Upper Rio Grande River Basin of the southwestern, USA. Otter latrine sites were surveyed for 8 consecutive occasions, each of which were 7-10 days in duration, during February-April, 2018. Additional tissue samples were obtained from the reintroduction source population in Washington, USA, to investigate genetic changes since the founder event.

All collected samples were processed at the Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics at University of Idaho (Moscow, USA) for DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and microsatellite genotyping. DNA was extracted from tissue and fecal samples using DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kits and QIAmp Fast DNA Stool Mini Kits (Qiagen, Inc.), respectively. Fecal samples were extracted in a separate laboratory dedicated to low quality, low quantity DNA sources, and one negative control ..., This dataset contains the genotypes, genotyping error rates, spatial capture-recapture detection histories, and latrine site locations (geographical coordinates) for the study by Murphy et al., \"Evaluating otter reintroduction outcomes using genetic spatial capture-recapture modified for dendritic networks.\"