Sunday 11 November 2012

Puerto Rico manatees threatened by isolation


Isolation of Puerto Rico's manatees affects survival odds
October 2012. New evidence shows there is no cross-breeding between endangered manatees in Puerto Rico and those in Florida, resulting in less genetic diversity in Puerto Rico's small manatee population and impacting its odds of survival.
The findings, which come from a study of West Indian manatees by the U.S. Geological Survey and Puerto Rico Manatee Conservation Center, could help resource managers make decisions about how to conserve the endangered marine mammal.
Wake up call
"Wildlife management has been one of the fields to benefit greatly from the ability to determine relatedness of individuals from DNA analysis, allowing management decisions to be based on concrete scientific evidence for genetic diversity and prospects for it to increase," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "These results for Puerto Rico's manatees are a wake-up call."
Just 250 manatees in Puerto Rico
One key management concern is the ability of Puerto Rico's manatees to absorb and rebound from population declines. Current estimates suggest as few as 250 individual manatees may currently live in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the population's genetic diversity is low, a fact which decreases a wildlife population's capacity to adapt to changing conditions and rebound after critical events that can cause deaths, such as hurricanes, boat strikes, or disease.
This latest finding - that Puerto Rico's manatees are genetically isolated - shows the population's vulnerability to future ups and downs is not being offset by migration from Florida manatees, as was once hoped.
"Puerto Rico's Antillean manatees have low overall numbers and low genetic diversity, both of which present risks for the population's long-term survival," said Margaret Hunter, Ph.D., a USGS geneticist and lead author of the study. "The lack of gene flow is another risk factor. We detected no signs that the Puerto Rico population is being supplemented by Florida manatees, through migration or breeding. This means that Puerto Rico's population must absorb shocks - such as environmental change or disease - on their own. It's a trifecta of genetic vulnerability."

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