Morán-Luis María, Fameli Alberto, Blanco-Fontao Beatriz, Fernández-Gil Alberto, Rodríguez-Muñoz Rolando, Quevedo Mario, Mirol Patricia, Bañuelos María-José
Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-PA-CSIC), University of Oviedo, Mieres, Spain; Ecology Unit, Department of Biology of Organisms and Systems, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
Group of Biodiversity and Conservation Genetics (GECOBI), Argentinian Museum of Natural Sciences 'Bernardino Rivadavia', Buenos Aires, Argentina.
PLoS One. 2014 Jun 13;9(6):e99799. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099799. eCollection 2014.
Counting rare and elusive animals and evaluating their demographic status, are fundamental yet challenging aspects of population ecology and conservation biology. We set out to estimate population size (Nc), genetic effective population size (Ne gen), sex ratio, and movements based on genetic tagging for the threatened Cantabrian capercaillie. We used 9 microsatellite loci to genotype 134 droppings collected at 34 display areas during the breeding season. Using genetic capture-mark-recapture, we estimated 93 individuals (Nc, 95% CI: 70-116) in an area of about 500 km2, with sex ratio biased towards males (1∶1.6). Estimated Ne gen (35.5) was 38% of Nc, notably higher than the published average in wild populations. This capercaillie population is small and well within concern in terms of population viability. By genetic tagging, we detected mostly short movements; just a few males were recaptured between contiguous display areas. Non-invasive surveys of endangered populations have a great potential, yet adequate sample size and location are key to obtain reliable information on conservation status.
对珍稀且难以捉摸的动物进行计数并评估其种群动态，是种群生态学和保护生物学的基本但具有挑战性的方面。我们着手基于基因标记来估计受威胁的坎塔布连黑琴鸡的种群数量（Nc）、遗传有效种群大小（Ne gen）、性别比和活动情况。我们使用9个微卫星位点对繁殖季节在34个展示区收集的134份粪便进行基因分型。通过基因捕获-重捕法，我们估计在约500平方公里的区域内有93只个体（Nc，95%置信区间：70 - 116），性别比偏向雄性（1∶1.6）。估计的Ne gen（35.5）是Nc的38%，显著高于已发表的野生种群平均水平。这个黑琴鸡种群规模较小，就种群生存力而言令人担忧。通过基因标记，我们检测到的大多是短距离活动；只有少数雄性在相邻展示区之间被重新捕获。对濒危种群进行非侵入性调查具有很大潜力，但足够的样本量和采样地点是获取有关保护状况可靠信息的关键。
