Assessing subspecies status of leopards (<i>Panthera pardus</i>) of northern Pakistan using mitochondrial DNA

Asad, Muhammad; Martoni, Francesco; Ross, James G.; Waseem, Muhammad; Abbas, Fakhar-i; Paterson, Adrian M.

doi:10.7717/peerj.7243

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…In Pakistan, there are no robust estimates for the current distribution and density of leopards. Phylogenetic analysis confirms the presence of two subspecies P. p. saxicolor, P. p. fusca (Asad et al 2019). Few studies on diet analysis and conservation have been conducted that address human-leopard conflicts (Lodhi 2007;Kabir et al 2013;Shehzad et al 2014), although these studies at least indicate the presence of leopards in different areas (e.g.…”

Section: Leopards In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Un-Common Leopard: presence, distribution and abundance in Gallies and Murree Forest Division, Northern Pakistan

Asad¹,

Waseem²,

Ross³

et al. 2019

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The leopard Panthera pardus is thought to be sparsely distributed across Pakistan and there is limited understanding of the demographic structure and distribution of the species in this country. We conducted a study, from April to July 2017, and, from March to June 2018, in the northern Pakistan region to establish the presence and distribution of leopards, mindful at the outset of their abundance in that region. The presence of leopards was confirmed in the Swat, Dir and Margalla Hills region. The leopard population in Gallies and Murree Forest Division was preliminarily assessed via camera-trapping. As a result, a total of 63 potential areas of leopard population were identified initially. The leopard was photo captured at 27 locations (hotspots) with 34 capture events yielding 195 images over the course of 3,022 active trap-nights. Camera trap images were examined to identify leopard individuals using their rosette patterns on both the left and right flanks and the dorsal side of the tail. Ultimately, 15 leopard individuals were identified during the first survey period of the study and four individuals were recaptured in the second survey period, together with three new individuals. The detection probability of individual leopards from MARK varied from 0.10 and 0.20 with a population size (preliminarily estimated to be 16–25 (SE = 3.18) in 2107 and 7–13 (SE = 1.87) in 2018. This gave a density of 4.5 to 9.5 leopards/100 km2, respectively. A home range of various individual leopards was found to extend from the Gallies Reserved Forest to the extended corridors of Guzara Forest. In general, this study suggests that the Guzara Forest is crucially important for the conservation of leopards in the region as this area allows them extended movement while searching for food and mates.

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Section: Leopards In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Un-Common Leopard: presence, distribution and abundance in Gallies and Murree Forest Division, Northern Pakistan

Asad¹,

Waseem²,

Ross³

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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“…Unfortunately, there is still a paucity of information on their population and demography at regional and global scales. Few earlier studies have assessed the subspecies status (Asad et al, 2019;Farhadinia et al, 2015;Paijmans et al, 2018) and genetic diversity (Uphyrkina et al, 2001;Dutta et al, 2013;Mondol et al, 2014) of leopards in the Asian region including India, but comprehensive data is lacking. Much of our knowledge on leopard ecology and demography in the Indian subcontinent come from locationspecific studies (Karanth & Sunquist, 2000;Chauhan et al, 2005;Harihar, Pandav & Goyal, 2009;Wang & Macdonald, 2009;Kalle et al, 2011;Grant, 2012;Mondal et al, 2012;Dutta et al, 2012;Dutta et al, 2013;Thapa et al, 2014;Borah et al, 2014;Selvan et al, 2014;Pawar et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic analyses reveal population structure and recent decline in leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) across the Indian subcontinent

Bhatt

Biswas

Karanth

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Background Large carnivores maintain the stability and functioning of ecosystems. Currently, many carnivore species face declining population sizes due to natural and anthropogenic pressures. The leopard, Panthera pardus, is probably the most widely distributed and highly adaptable large felid globally, still persisting in most of its historic range. However, we lack subspecies-level data on country or regional scale on population trends, as ecological monitoring approaches are difficult to apply on such wide-ranging species. We used genetic data from leopards sampled across the Indian subcontinent to investigate population structure and patterns of demographic decline. Methods We collected faecal samples from the Terai-Arc landscape of northern India and identified 56 unique individuals using a panel of 13 microsatellite markers. We merged this data with already available 143 leopard individuals and assessed genetic structure at country scale. Subsequently, we investigated the demographic history of each identified subpopulations and compared genetic decline analyses with countrywide local extinction probabilities. Results Our genetic analyses revealed four distinct subpopulations corresponding to Western Ghats, Deccan Plateau-Semi Arid, Shivalik and Terai region of the north Indian landscape, each with high genetic variation. Coalescent simulations with microsatellite loci revealed a possibly human-induced 75–90% population decline between ∼120–200 years ago across India. Population-specific estimates of genetic decline are in concordance with ecological estimates of local extinction probabilities in these subpopulations obtained from occupancy modeling of the historic and current distribution of leopards in India. Conclusions Our results confirm the population decline of a widely distributed, adaptable large carnivore. We re-iterate the relevance of indirect genetic methods for such species in conjunction with occupancy assessment and recommend that detailed, landscape-level ecological studies on leopard populations are critical to future conservation efforts. Our approaches and inference are relevant to other widely distributed, seemingly unaffected carnivores such as the leopard.

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“…Currently, two subspecies P. p. saxicolor = P. p. dathei = P. p. sindica = P. p. ciscaucasica = P. p. tulliana and P. p. nimr = P. p. jarvisi are proposed for West Asia (Kitchener et al 2017). Several recent studies have provided understanding of taxonomy, phylogeography, spatial population structuring, and genetic variability based on ancient samples (Paijmans et al 2018) as well as recent mitogenome sequencing in West Asian leopards, such as Iran (Farhadinia et al 2015), the Caucasus (Rozhnov et al 2011), and Pakistan (Asad et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, all previous analyses of intraspecific genetic variation of West Asian leopards have been limited to only one mitochondrial gene, the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (NADH-5), which exhibits relatively high rates of mutation in leopards (Miththapala et al 1996;Uphyrkina et al 2001), accounting for 44 of 50 variable sites found in mtDNA regions of the leopards (Uphyrkina et al 2001). Surprisingly, low mitogenomic diversity was reported in all studied populations of Persian leopards, from Pakistan to Iran and the Caucasus (Rozhnov et al 2011;Farhadinia et al 2015;Asad et al 2019). Mitochondrial analyses of nearly 100 wild-born leopards revealed no more than 8 haplotypes across West Asia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there low maternal genetic variation in West Asian populations of leopard?

et al. 2020

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Persian leopards Panthera pardus saxicolor have been extirpated from over 84% of their historic range and are now limited to rugged landscapes of West Asia and the Caucasus. Understanding and maintaining genetic diversity and population connectivity is important for preventing inbreeding and genetic drift, both of which can threaten population viability. All previous analyses of intraspecific genetic variation of West Asian leopards based on the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 gene have reported low mitogenomic diversity. In the current study, we sequenced 959 bp of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene to describe the spatial genetic structure of 22 wild Persian leopards across Iran, which hosts most of the subspecies extant range. The findings based on phylogenetic trees and median-joining network indicated that leopards from Iran formed a distinct subclade, i.e., P. p. saxicolor. The AMOVA analysis showed significant differentiation (88.55%) between the subclades of Persian leopards and other Asian leopards. The lowest levels of haplotype (0.247) and nucleotide (0.00078) diversity were estimated in Persian leopards from Iran. Mitochondrial genome sequencing revealed only two closely related haplotypes. There was no evidence for recent sudden demographic expansion scenario in Persian leopards. The low diversity in cytochrome b gene could potentially be brought about by selective pressure on mitochondria to adapt to oxidative stress and higher metabolic rates in cold environments.

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Assessing subspecies status of leopards (Panthera pardus) of northern Pakistan using mitochondrial DNA

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

The Un-Common Leopard: presence, distribution and abundance in Gallies and Murree Forest Division, Northern Pakistan

The Un-Common Leopard: presence, distribution and abundance in Gallies and Murree Forest Division, Northern Pakistan

Genetic analyses reveal population structure and recent decline in leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) across the Indian subcontinent

Is there low maternal genetic variation in West Asian populations of leopard?

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