Population structure as revealed by mtDNA and microsatellites in northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, throughout their range.

The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus; NFS) is a widely distributed pinniped that has been shown to exhibit a high degree of philopatry to islands, breeding areas on an island, and even to specific segments of breeding areas. This level of philopatry could conceivably lead to highly genetically...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS ONE
Main Authors: Bobette R Dickerson, Rolf R Ream, Sacha N Vignieri, Paul Bentzen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010
Subjects:
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Pacific
Callorhinus ursinus
Northern fur seal
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010671
https://doaj.org/article/2312db7d46fa4fcf9ee0353b497f29d3
Description
Summary:The northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus; NFS) is a widely distributed pinniped that has been shown to exhibit a high degree of philopatry to islands, breeding areas on an island, and even to specific segments of breeding areas. This level of philopatry could conceivably lead to highly genetically divergent populations. However, northern fur seals have the potential for dispersal across large distances and have experienced repeated rapid population expansions following glacial retreat and the more recent cessation of intensive harvest pressure.Using microsatellite and mitochondrial loci, we examined population structure in NFS throughout their range. We found only weak population genetic structure among breeding islands including significant F(ST) and Phi(ST) values between eastern and western Pacific islands.We conclude that insufficient time since rapid population expansion events (both post glacial and following the cessation of intense harvest pressure) mixed with low levels of contemporary migration have resulted in an absence of genetic structure across the entire northern fur seal range.

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