Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator
Bender AN, Krause DJ, Goebel ME, Hoffman J, Lewallen EA, Bonin CA. Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator. PLoS ONE . 2023;18(8). Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top predators that can exert substantial top-down control of their Antarctic p...
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ftubbiepub:oai:pub.uni-bielefeld.de:2982793 2023-10-09T21:45:10+02:00 Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator Bender, Arona N. Krause, Douglas J. Goebel, Michael E. Hoffman, Joseph Lewallen, Eric A. Bonin, Carolina A. 2023 https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2982793 eng eng Public Library of Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0284640 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1932-6203 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001051705700007 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/37566609 https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2982793 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:eu-repo/semantics/article doc-type:article text 2023 ftubbiepub https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284640 2023-09-17T23:04:57Z Bender AN, Krause DJ, Goebel ME, Hoffman J, Lewallen EA, Bonin CA. Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator. PLoS ONE . 2023;18(8). Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top predators that can exert substantial top-down control of their Antarctic prey species. However, population trends and genetic diversity of leopard seals remain understudied, limiting our understanding of their ecological role. We investigated the genetic diversity, effective population size and demographic history of leopard seals to provide fundamental data that contextualizes their predatory influence on Antarctic ecosystems. Ninety leopard seals were sampled from the northern Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summers of 2008-2019 and a 405bp segment of the mitochondrial control region was sequenced for each individual. We uncovered moderate levels of nucleotide (& pi; = 0.013) and haplotype (Hd = 0.96) diversity, and the effective population size was estimated at around 24,000 individuals (NE = 24,376; 95% CI: 16,876-33,126). Consistent with findings from other ice-breeding pinnipeds, Bayesian skyline analysis also revealed evidence for population expansion during the last glacial maximum, suggesting that historical population growth may have been boosted by an increase in the abundance of sea ice. Although leopard seals can be found in warmer, sub-Antarctic locations, the species' core habitat is centered on the Antarctic, making it inherently vulnerable to the loss of sea ice habitat due to climate change. Therefore, detailed assessments of past and present leopard seal population trends are needed to inform policies for Antarctic ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals Sea ice Southern Ocean PUB - Publications at Bielefeld University Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral Hydrurga ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) Southern Ocean The Antarctic PLOS ONE 18 8 e0284640 |
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Open Polar |
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PUB - Publications at Bielefeld University |
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ftubbiepub |
language |
English |
description |
Bender AN, Krause DJ, Goebel ME, Hoffman J, Lewallen EA, Bonin CA. Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator. PLoS ONE . 2023;18(8). Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top predators that can exert substantial top-down control of their Antarctic prey species. However, population trends and genetic diversity of leopard seals remain understudied, limiting our understanding of their ecological role. We investigated the genetic diversity, effective population size and demographic history of leopard seals to provide fundamental data that contextualizes their predatory influence on Antarctic ecosystems. Ninety leopard seals were sampled from the northern Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summers of 2008-2019 and a 405bp segment of the mitochondrial control region was sequenced for each individual. We uncovered moderate levels of nucleotide (& pi; = 0.013) and haplotype (Hd = 0.96) diversity, and the effective population size was estimated at around 24,000 individuals (NE = 24,376; 95% CI: 16,876-33,126). Consistent with findings from other ice-breeding pinnipeds, Bayesian skyline analysis also revealed evidence for population expansion during the last glacial maximum, suggesting that historical population growth may have been boosted by an increase in the abundance of sea ice. Although leopard seals can be found in warmer, sub-Antarctic locations, the species' core habitat is centered on the Antarctic, making it inherently vulnerable to the loss of sea ice habitat due to climate change. Therefore, detailed assessments of past and present leopard seal population trends are needed to inform policies for Antarctic ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bender, Arona N. Krause, Douglas J. Goebel, Michael E. Hoffman, Joseph Lewallen, Eric A. Bonin, Carolina A. |
spellingShingle |
Bender, Arona N. Krause, Douglas J. Goebel, Michael E. Hoffman, Joseph Lewallen, Eric A. Bonin, Carolina A. Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
author_facet |
Bender, Arona N. Krause, Douglas J. Goebel, Michael E. Hoffman, Joseph Lewallen, Eric A. Bonin, Carolina A. |
author_sort |
Bender, Arona N. |
title |
Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
title_short |
Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
title_full |
Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
title_fullStr |
Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: A Southern Ocean top predator |
title_sort |
genetic diversity and demographic history of the leopard seal: a southern ocean top predator |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2982793 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral Hydrurga Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Austral Hydrurga Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0284640 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1932-6203 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/001051705700007 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/37566609 https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2982793 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284640 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e0284640 |
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1779316382041636864 |