Incorporating non-equilibrium dynamics into demographic history inferences of a migratory marine species

• Published in: Heredity
• Main Authors: Carroll, Emma L., Alderman, R, Bannister, J L, Bérube, Martine, Best, P B, Boren, L, Baker, C S, Constantine, R., Findlay, K, Harcourt, R, Lemaire, L, Palsbøll, P. J., Patenaude, N J, Rowntree, V J, Seger, J, Steel, D, Valenzuela, L O, Watson, M, Gaggiotti, O. E.
• Other Authors: European Commission, The Royal Society, University of St Andrews. School of Biology, University of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland, University of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Unit
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Southern right whale; Approximate Bayesian computation; Historical demography; Connectivity; Last glacial maximum; Non-equilibrium population genetics; Eubalaena australis; Cicumpolar SRW connectivity over time; GC Oceanography; QH426 Genetics; QH301 Biology; DAS; SDG 14 - Life Below Water; GC; QH426; QH301; Southern Right Whale
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10023/16390; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-0077-y

ELC was supported while writing this paper by a EU Horizon 2020 Marie Slodowska Curie Fellowship, project BEHAVIOUR-CONNECT, by a Newton Fellowship from the Royal Society of London and Bayesian statistical training was supported by National Science Foundation (award DEB- 1145200). Laboratory analyses conducted by ELC were funded by a small grant from the British Ecological Society 5076 / 6118 and Bayesian analysis was supported by training from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DEB-1145200. OEG was supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) funded by the Scottish Founding Council (grant reference HR09011). Genetic data from the South African right whale samples were generated by MB and PJP with the support of UC Berkeley, University of Stockholm and University of Groningen. Computational Biology analyses were supported by the University of St Andrews Bioinformatics Unit which is funded by a Wellcome Trust ISSF award. Understanding how dispersal and gene flow link geographically separated populations over evolutionary history is challenging, particularly in migratory marine species. In southern right whales (SRWs, Eubalaena australis), patterns of genetic diversity are likely influenced by the glacial climate cycle and recent history of whaling. Here we use a dataset of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences (n=1,327) and nuclear markers (17 microsatellite loci, n=222) from major wintering grounds to investigate circumpolar population structure, historical demography, and effective population size. Analyses of nuclear genetic variation identify two population clusters that correspond to the South Atlantic and Indo-Pacific ocean basins that have similar effective breeder estimates. In contrast, all wintering grounds show significant differentiation for mtDNA, but no sex-biased dispersal was detected using the microsatellite genotypes. An approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) approach with microsatellite markers compared scenarios with gene flow through time, or ...