Non–invasive sampling of endangered neotropical river otters reveals high levels of dispersion in the Lacantun River System of Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Patterns of genetic dispersion, levels of population genetic structure, and movement of the neotropical river otter (Lontra longicaudis) were investigated by screening eight polymorphic microsatellites from DNA extracted from fecal samples, collected in a hydrologic system of the Lacandon rainforest in Chiapas, Mexico. A total of 34 unique genotypes were detected from our surveys along six different rivers, and the effect of landscape genetic structure was studied. We recovered 16 of the 34 individuals in multiple rivers at multiple times. We found high levels of dispersion and low levels of genetic differentiation among otters from the six surveyed rivers (P > 0.05), except for the pairwise comparison among the Lacantún and José rivers (P < 0.05). We recommend that conservation management plans for the species consider the entire Lacantún River System and its tributaries as a single management unit to ensure the maintenance of current levels of population genetic diversity, because the population analyzed seems to follow a source–sink dynamic mainly determined by the existence of the major river.

<b>REGISTROS DEL GRISÓN (<i>Galictis vittata</i>), NUTRIA DE RÍO NEOTROPICAL (<i>Lontra longicaudis</i>) Y CONEJO (<i>Sylvilagus</i> sp) EN LA RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA LA ENCRUCIJADA, CHIAPAS, MÉXICO</b>

“…El registro de la nutria se obtuvo con una trampa cámara HCO Scoutguard (Figura 2C) en las coordenadas 15°14'26.4" N, 92°56'10.8" O, donde la vegetación dominante es el mangle blanco (Laguncularia racemosa), sin embargo, debido a una falla en el equipo no fue posible obtener la fecha exacta del registro, aunque se presume que el individuo se fotografió en el transcurso del mes de diciembre de 2015. La presencia de la nutria neotropical ha sido documentada en diferentes zonas de Chiapas (Gallo-Reynoso, 1997;Espinoza, 1998;González-Bocanegra et al, 2011;Ortega et al, 2012), sin embargo, para la rebien no se tienen registros geográficamente referenciados. El registro más cercano a la reserva se encuentra en el municipio de Mapastepec, Chiapas (Muñoz-Alonso y March-Mifsut, 2003).…”

Genetic diversity in the Neotropical river otter, Lontra longicaudis (Mammalia, Mustelidae), in the Lower Delta of Parana River, Argentina and its relation with habitat suitability

“…A similar procedure was used to test the relationship between genetic diversity and habitat suitability at a regional scale. In this case, we analysed data obtained from 7 populations where genetic diversity indexes were available: southern Mexico (Ortega et al, 2012), French Guiana, Northeastern Brazil, Brazilian Amazon, Southern Brazil, Southern South America (Trinca, 2012;Trinca et al, 2013) and Lower Delta (this study). One study could not be included (Weber et al, 2009) because only 5 loci were used and only 37% of individuals were genotyped (10 from 27) at more than three loci.…”

“…During surveys, we collected all fresh faeces found in the study area (n = 33). Faeces were easily recognizable because they are generally found in latrines near water courses, have a characteristic smell, and contain crustacean and fish traces (Weber et al, 2009;Ortega et al, 2012;Trinca, 2012). Additionally, 7 tissue samples were obtained from road-killed animals.…”

“…It is also found in Appendix I of CITES (Larivie `re, 1999), and it is considered an endangered species at national level, according to the latest survey conducted by the Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamı ´feros (Ojeda et al, 2012). Some recent studies examined the genetic diversity and population structure of Neotropical river otters (Trinca et al, 2007;Weber et al, 2009;Ortega et al, 2012;Trinca, 2012;Trinca et al, 2012Trinca et al, , 2013. However, these studies were mainly carried out in Brazil, and none of them included Argentinean populations.…”

Extensión de presencia y área de ocupación de la nutria neotropical (Lontra longicaudis) en la cuenca del río La Vieja, alto Cauca, Colombia

“…La segunda área se encuentra ubicada en el río Verde, en el cual se vierten las aguas residuales de los municipios Córdoba y Pijao. Se delimitó una tercera zona en la parte baja del río Barragán, donde se conjuga la extracción mecanizada y tecnificada de material de playa y el turismo de aventura, actividades que incomunican las poblaciones de nutrias de los ríos Lejos y Rojo con las ubicadas en el río La Vieja; aunque se sugiere profundizar con análisis genéticos, pues en cuencas medianas l. longicaudis muestran altos índices de dispersión y bajos índices de diferenciación (Ortega et al, 2012). En este cuerpo de agua se explota aproximadamente 24 % de material de río de la cuenca (CRQ 2005).…”