Splitting or lumping? A conservation dilemma exemplified by the critically endangered dama gazelle (Nanger dama)

Managers of threatened species often face the dilemma of whether to keep populations separate to conserve local adaptations and minimize the risk of outbreeding, or whether to manage populations jointly to reduce loss of genetic diversity and minimise inbreeding. In this study we examine genetic rel...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e98693-e98693
Main Authors: Senn, Helen, Banfield, Lisa, Wacher, Tim, Newby, John, Rabeil, Thomas, Kaden, Jennifer, Kitchener, Andrew C, Abaigar, Teresa, Silva, Teresa Luísa, Maunder, Mike, Ogden, Rob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptations
Africa
Animals
Antelopes - classification
Antelopes - genetics
Biology and Life Sciences
Conservation
Conservation of Natural Resources
Cytochrome
Cytochrome b
Cytochromes b - genetics
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Endangered & extinct species
Endangered Species
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Genetic diversity
Genetic drift
Genetics
Geographical distribution
Geography
Haplotypes - genetics
Inbreeding
Inbreeding depression
Laboratories
Lumping
Mitochondrial DNA
Museums
Mutation - genetics
Nanger dama
Outbreeding
Phenotypic variations
Phylogeography
Population
Population Dynamics
Populations
Risk management
Risk reduction
Splitting
Taxonomy
Threatened species
Zoology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Managers of threatened species often face the dilemma of whether to keep populations separate to conserve local adaptations and minimize the risk of outbreeding, or whether to manage populations jointly to reduce loss of genetic diversity and minimise inbreeding. In this study we examine genetic relatedness and diversity in three of the five last remaining wild populations of dama gazelle and a number of captive populations, using mtDNA control region and cytochrome b data. Despite the sampled populations belonging to the three putative subspecies, which are delineated according to phenotypes and geographical location, we find limited evidence for phylogeographical structure within the data and no genetic support for the putative subspecies. In the light of these data we discuss the relevance of inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, adaptive variation, genetic drift, and phenotypic variation to the conservation of the dama gazelle and make some recommendations for its future conservation management. The genetic data suggest that the best conservation approach is to view the dama gazelle as a single species without subspecific divisions.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0098693