Current Genetic Structure Analysis of Leopard Cats Reveals a Weak Disparity Trend in Subpopulations in Beijing, China

In the face of habitat shrinkage and segregation, the survival of wild cats looks bleak. Interpreting their population genetic structure during habitat fragmentation is critical in planning effective management strategies. To reveal the segregation effects of road construction and human settlements...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-10, Vol.11 (10), p.1478
Main Authors: Teng, Yang, Yang, Jing, Ju, Long-Fei, Huang, Wen-Hua, Zhang, Xin, Gao, Fu-Li, Bao, Wei-Dong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Enzymes
Feces
Gene flow
Genetic analysis
Genetic diversity
Genetic markers
Genetic structure
genetic structure differentiation
Genetic testing
Habitat fragmentation
Human settlements
Inbreeding
leopard cat
microsatellite DNA
Microsatellites
Mitochondrial DNA
Nature reserves
Population
Population decline
Population genetics
Population studies
Prionailurus bengalensis
Road construction
Subpopulations
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Summary:In the face of habitat shrinkage and segregation, the survival of wild cats looks bleak. Interpreting their population genetic structure during habitat fragmentation is critical in planning effective management strategies. To reveal the segregation effects of road construction and human settlements on the population genetic structure, we analyzed non-invasive fecal DNA samples from leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) from five nature reserves in mountainous areas around Beijing. We focused on microsatellite markers. A total of 112 individual leopard cats were identified among 601 samples of scat, and moderate population genetic diversity was detected. Microsatellite-marker-based genetic differentiation (Fst) and gene flow (Nm) showed a weak trend toward discrepancies in the Baihuashan and Songshan subpopulations, which indicated habitat fragmentation effects on individual dispersal. Because the segregated subpopulations may suffer a high risk of genetic diversity loss, we suggest that their genetic structure be monitored with more molecular markers to detect any changes, and that female individuals be artificially introduced as needed to maintain the viability of the leopard cat subpopulations in Beijing.
ISSN:2079-7737
2079-7737
DOI:10.3390/biology11101478