Mid-Holocene decline in African buffalos inferred from Bayesian coalescent-based analyses of microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA

Molecular Ecology
Rasmus HellerH R Siegismund

Abstract

Genetic studies concerned with the demographic history of wildlife species can help elucidate the role of climate change and other forces such as human activity in shaping patterns of divergence and distribution. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) declined dramatically during the rinderpest pandemic in the late 1800s, but little is known about the earlier demographic history of the species. We analysed genetic variation at 17 microsatellite loci and a 302-bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region to infer past demographic changes in buffalo populations from East Africa. Two Bayesian coalescent-based methods as well as traditional bottleneck tests were applied to infer detailed dynamics in buffalo demographic history. No clear genetic signature of population declines related to the rinderpest pandemic could be detected. However, Bayesian coalescent modelling detected a strong signal of African buffalo population declines in the order of 75-98%, starting in the mid-Holocene (approximately 3-7000 years ago). The signature of decline was remarkably consistent using two different coalescent-based methods and two types of molecular markers. Exploratory analyses involving various prior assumptions did not seriously affect...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 7, 2010·PloS One·Linea MelchiorJørgen Dissing
Aug 29, 2013·Primates; Journal of Primatology·Christina HvilsomHans R Siegismund
Jun 19, 2012·Molecular Ecology·E D LorenzenH R Siegismund
Apr 23, 2010·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Lifeng ZhuFuwen Wei
Nov 22, 2012·Ecology and Evolution·Julie M AllenColin A Chapman
Jun 26, 2012·Molecular Ecology·Rasmus HellerHans R Siegismund
Jul 14, 2020·Journal of Fish Biology·Rosa María García-MartínezOmar Mejía
May 2, 2019·PeerJ·Andrinajoro R RakotoariveloYoshan Moodley
Nov 12, 2020·Molecular Ecology·Brenda LarisonGregory S Barsh

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