Anthropogenic pressures increase extinction risk of an isolated Asian elephant (<i>Elephas maximus</i>) population in southwestern China, as revealed by a combination of molecular‐ and landscape‐scale approaches

Integrative Zoology - Tập 17 Số 6 - Trang 1078-1094 - 2022
Ying Chen1,2, Yakuan Sun3,2, Luciano Atzeni2, Luke Gibson4, Hua Mei5, Keyu Li6, Kun Shi3,2, David Dudgeon1
1School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
3Eco-Bridge Continental, Beijing, China
4School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
5Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
6School of Earth Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China

Tóm tắt

AbstractIdentification of the effect of anthropogenic threats on ecosystem is crucial. We used molecular tools and remote sensing to evaluate the population status of an isolated Asian elephant population in southwestern China in response to changes in habitat suitability between 1989 and 2019. A total of 22 unique genotypes were identified from 117 dung samples collected between March and June 2018 using microsatellite DNA analysis, including 13 males and 9 females. Based on the size of fecal boli, 1 animal was a juvenile, 9 were subadults, and 12 were adults, indicating that recruitment was limited. The effective population size was small (15.3) but there was no signature of a recent population bottleneck. We observed a low genetic diversity (He= 0.46 ± 0.05) and a high level of inbreeding (Fisof 0.43 ± 0.11), suggesting low population viability and high risk of extinction. In total, these elephants lost nearly two thirds (62%) of their habitat in 3 decades. The expansion of agriculture and rubber plantations followed by an increase in human settlements after 1989 increased the isolation of this population. We recommend that resettlement of 800 inhabitants of 2 villages and the abandonment of associated farmland and rubber plantations would make an additional 20 km2of suitable habitat available. This could allow a population increase of 14 elephants, possibly by translocating individuals from elsewhere in China. Our findings can be applied to the management and conservation of other fragmented populations in China or in other range countries of Asian elephants.

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Integrative Zoology

Tập 17 Số 6

1078-1094

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