Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in the Pechora Sea in the context of contemporary population structure of Northeast Atlantic walruses

Identifying genetically different groups of animals, occupying specific geographical areas, is a prerequisite for conservation and management priorities. In the present study, the genetic structure of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) occupying the Pechora Sea (PEC) in the western Russi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Main Authors: Andersen, Liselotte Wesley, Jacobsen, Magnus W., Lydersen, Christian, Semenova, Varvara, Boltunov, Andrei, Born, Erik W., Wiig, Oystein, Kovacs, Kit M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
ALLELE FREQUENCY DATA
DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORY
ELEPHANT SEAL
FRANZ JOSEF LAND
GENETIC DIVERSITY
MICROSATELLITE VARIATION
MOLECULAR EVOLUTION
MULTILOCUS GENOTYPE DATA
STATISTICAL TESTS
TIME DEPENDENCY
climate change
conservation
divergence
genetics
management
microsatellites
mtDNA
Arctic
Franz Josef Land
Greenland
Pacific
Svalbard
Climate change
East Greenland
Elephant Seal
Northeast Atlantic
Odobenus rosmarus
Pechora
Pechora Sea
walrus*
Online Access:https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/c44e48ff-8254-496b-8243-cc68f1730087
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx093
Description
Summary:Identifying genetically different groups of animals, occupying specific geographical areas, is a prerequisite for conservation and management priorities. In the present study, the genetic structure of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) occupying the Pechora Sea (PEC) in the western Russian Arctic, including walruses from Svalbard-Franz Josef Land (SVA-FJL) and East Greenland (EGR) regions, was investigated using 14 microsatellites (N = 159) and mtDNA sequences (N = 212). Bayesian-based clustering analysis identified two clusters: EGR and the other Northeast Atlantic areas. Pairwise F-ST analyses based on microsatellites revealed low but significant genetic differences between walruses from the PEC and SVA-FJL groups, which was supported by mtDNA analysis. F-ST was not significant for all sampling years, indicating a temporal effect or male-biased gene flow. Extended Bayesian Skyline Plots suggested a constant female subpopulation size (N-ef) for EGR and an increase for the SVA-FJL and PEC groups that commenced around 40-30 Kyr ago, indicating different demographic histories for walruses in the EGR. Further, the evolutionary phylogenetic relationship between Atlantic and Pacific walruses (O. r. divergence), based on mtDNA sequences, showed a monophyletic Atlantic clade, suggesting that Atlantic and Pacific walruses diverged similar to 949 Kyr. The principal finding suggests that PEC walruses show low, but significant genetic distinction from walruses in SVA-FJL and should be managed conservatively, as a separate, small population.

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