Jabin Gul, Dolker Stanzin, Joshi Bheem Dutt, Singh Sujeet Kumar, Chandra Kailash, Sharma Lalit Kumar, Thakur Mukesh
Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053, West Bengal, India.
Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, West Bengal, India.
Biology (Basel). 2023 Feb 28;12(3):382. doi: 10.3390/biology12030382.
Wildlife corridors that connect mosaic habitats in heterogeneous mountainous landscapes can be of high significance as they facilitate the genetic and demographic stability of free-ranging populations. Peripheral populations of widespread species are usually ignored in conservation planning. However, these populations retain locally common alleles and are genetic reservoir under the changing climatic conditions. has widespread distribution, and its southern peripheral population is distributed in the Indian trans-Himalayan region (ITR). In the present study, we studied the spatial distribution and genetic make-up of Himalayan ibex from the ITR following the landscape genetics approach. We obtained 16 haplotypes at the mitochondrial d-loop region and found a stable demography in the past with a recent decline. With 10 nuclear microsatellites, we ascertained 111 unique individuals assigned into two clusters following Bayesian and non-Bayesian clustering analysis with several admixed individuals. We also recorded 25 first-generation migrants that reflected relatively high dispersal and gene-flow across the range. We identified a 19,835 sq.km suitable area with 13,311 sq.km in Ladakh and 6524 sq.km in Lahaul-Spiti. We identified a novel movement corridor for Himalayan ibex across the Lahaul-Zanskar-Sham valley (L-Z-SV) that displayed a fairly good conductance with low genetic divergence among the samples collected on the L-Z-SV corridor. We propose declaring a protected area in the Lahaul and Kargil districts to prioritize dedicated conservation efforts for the Himalayan ibex and other sympatric ungulates that impart a major role in the diet of large carnivore and balancing ecosystem services in the trans-Himalayan region.
连接异质山区景观中镶嵌栖息地的野生动物走廊可能具有重要意义，因为它们有助于自由放养种群的遗传和种群稳定性。在保护规划中，广泛分布物种的边缘种群通常被忽视。然而，这些种群保留了当地常见的等位基因，并且在不断变化的气候条件下是基因库。[物种名称]分布广泛，其南部边缘种群分布在印度跨喜马拉雅地区（ITR）。在本研究中，我们采用景观遗传学方法研究了来自ITR的喜马拉雅塔尔羊的空间分布和遗传组成。我们在线粒体d-loop区域获得了16个单倍型，并发现过去种群数量稳定，近期有所下降。利用10个核微卫星，通过贝叶斯和非贝叶斯聚类分析，我们确定了111个独特个体，分为两个聚类，还有几个混合个体。我们还记录了25个第一代迁徙个体，这反映了整个分布范围内相对较高的扩散和基因流动。我们确定了一个19835平方公里的适宜区域，其中拉达克有13311平方公里，拉胡尔-斯皮提有6524平方公里。我们确定了一条横跨拉胡尔-赞斯卡-沙姆山谷（L-Z-SV）的喜马拉雅塔尔羊新迁徙走廊，该走廊显示出相当好的连通性，在L-Z-SV走廊上采集的样本之间遗传差异较低。我们建议在拉胡尔和卡吉尔地区设立一个保护区，以便优先为喜马拉雅塔尔羊和其他同域有蹄类动物开展专门的保护工作，这些动物在大型食肉动物的饮食中起着重要作用，并平衡跨喜马拉雅地区的生态系统服务。
