Genetic diversity and connectivity of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) found in the Brazil and Chile–Peru wintering grounds and the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur) feeding ground

• Published in: Journal of Heredity
• Main Authors: Carroll, Emma L, Ott, Paulo H, McMillan, Louise F, Galletti Vernazzani, Bárbara, Neveceralova, Petra, Vermeulen, Els, Gaggiotti, Oscar E, Andriolo, Artur, Baker, C Scott, Bamford, Connor, Best, Peter, Cabrera, Elsa, Calderan, Susannah, Chirife, Andrea, Fewster, Rachel M, Flores, Paulo A C, Frasier, Timothy, Freitas, Thales R O, Groch, Karina, Hulva, Pavel, Kennedy, Amy, Leaper, Russell, Leslie, Matthew S, Moore, Michael, Oliveira, Larissa, Seger, Jon, Stepien, Emilie N, Valenzuela, Luciano O, Zerbini, Alexandre, Jackson, Jennifer A
• Other Authors: University of St Andrews. School of Biology, University of St Andrews. Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews. Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Population structure; Connectivity; Migration; Gene flow; QH426 Genetics; DAS; QH426; Antarc*; Antarctic; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10023/20026; https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa010

This work was supported by the EU BEST 2.0 medium grant 1594 and UK DARWIN PLUS grant 057 and additional funding from the World Wildlife Fund GB107301. The collection of the Chile–Peru sample was supported by the Global Greengrants Fund and the Pacific Whale Foundation. The collection of the Brazilian samples was supported through grants by the Brazilian National Research Council to Paulo H. Ott (CNPq proc. n° 144064/98-7) and Paulo A.C. Flores (CNPq proc. n° 146609/1999-9) and with support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Brazil). The collection of the South African samples was supported by the Global Greengrants Fund, the Pacific Whale Foundation and Charles University Grant Agency (1140217). E.L.C. was partially supported by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand. This study forms part of the Ecosystems component of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Sciences for Planet Earth Programme, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds. Specifically, we include data from Argentina (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 208/46), Brazil (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 50/50), South Africa (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 66/77, npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 350/47), Chile–Peru (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 1/1), the Indo-Pacific (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 769/126), and SG (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 8/0, nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 3/11) to investigate the position ...