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Genetic structure of the Amur tiger ( Panthera tigris altaica ) population: Are tigers in Sikhote‐Alin and southwest Primorye truly isolated?
Author(s) -
SOROKIN Pavel A.,
ROZHNOV Vyatcheslav V.,
KRASNENKO Anna U.,
LUKAREVSKIY Victor S.,
NAIDENKO Sergey V.,
HERNANDEZBLANCO Jose A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
integrative zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 1749-4877
DOI - 10.1111/1749-4877.12175
Subject(s) - panthera , tiger , genotyping , population , genetic similarity , biology , geography , point pattern analysis , zoology , ecology , genetic diversity , genotype , genetics , demography , predation , gene , common spatial pattern , computer security , sociology , computer science
We used molecular genetic analyses to noninvasively identify individual Amur tigers and define subpopulations of tigers in the Russian Far East. We identified 63 individuals after genotyping 256 feces, 7 hair and 11 blood samples collected within southern, central and northern Sikhote‐Alin, as well as Southwest Primorye. Analysis of nuclear DNA at 9 microsatellite loci demonstrated greater genetic similarity between animals from southern and northern Sikhote‐Alin (some 500 km apart) than between animals from Ussuriskii State Nature Reserve and Southwest Primorye (less than 10 km apart at their nearest point), suggesting that a true barrier exists preventing movements of tigers between Southwest Primorye and the southern Sikhote‐Alin Mountains.