Data from: Long-term population size of the North Atlantic humpback whale within the context of worldwide population structure ...

• Main Authors: Ruegg, Kristen, Rosenbaum, Howard C., Anderson, Eric C., Engel, Marcia, Rothschild, Anna, Baker, C. Scott, Palumbi, Stephen R.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2013
• Subjects: Megaptera novaeangliae; long-term population size; Humpback Whale; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bj506; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.bj506

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the North Atlantic have recently been increasing in numbers. However, uncertain information on past abundance makes it difficult to assess the extent of the recovery in this species. While estimates of pre-exploitation abundance based upon catch data suggest the population might be approaching pre-whaling numbers, estimates based on mtDNA genetic diversity suggest they are still only a fraction of their past abundance levels. The difference between the two estimates could be accounted for by inaccuracies in the catch record, by uncertainties surrounding the genetic estimate, or by differences in the timescale to which the two estimates apply. Here we report an estimate of long-term population size based on nuclear gene diversity. We increase the reliability of our genetic estimate by increasing the number of loci, incorporating uncertainty in each parameter and increasing sampling across the geographic range. We report an ... : ACT_sequence_all individualsSequence data in Fasta file format for Actin locus.ACT.txtCAT_sequence_all_indivdiualsCAT.txtESD_sequence_all_indivdiualsESD.txtFGG_sequence_all_individualsFGG.TXTGBA_sequence_all_individualsGBA.txtLAC_sequence_all_individualsLAC.txtPLP_sequence_all_individualsPLP.txtPLP_sequence_all_individualsPLP.txtPTH_sequence_all_individualsPTH.txtRHO_sequence_all_individualsRHO.txt ...