Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Minimum population size, genetic diversity, and social structure of the Asian elephant in Cat Tien National Park and its adjoining areas, Vietnam, based on molecular genetic analyses

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Vietnam’s elephant population that has suffered severe declines during the past three decades is now believed to number 60–80 individuals in the wild. Cat Tien National Park is thought to be one of the key areas for the recovery of Vietnam’s elephants. We carried out a molecular genetic study of elephants in Cat Tien National Park and its adjoining areas with the objectives of estimating minimum population size, assessing genetic diversity, and obtaining insights into social organization. We obtained a minimum population size of 11 elephants based on a combination of unique nuclear microsatellite genotypes and mitochondrial haplotypes. While mitochondrial diversity based on a 600-base pair segment was high in this small sample of individuals, the six microsatellite loci examined showed low diversity and the signature of a recent population bottleneck. Along with nuclear genetic depauperation of Cat Tien’s elephants, we also report disruption of normal social organization, with different matrilines having coalesced into a single social group because of anthropogenic disturbance. The results emphasize the critical condition of this elephant population and the need for urgent conservation measures if this population is to be saved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Abe EL (1994) The behavioral ecology of elephant survivors in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

  • Barnes RFW (2002) The problem of precision and trend detection posed by small elephant populations in West Africa. Afr J Ecol 40:179–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birky CW, Fuerst PA, Maruyama T (1989) Organelle gene diversity under migration, mutation, and drift: equilibrium expectations, approach to equilibrium, effects of heteroplasmic cells, and comparison to nuclear genes. Genetics 121:613–627

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charif RA, Ramey RR, Langbauer WR et al (2005) Spatial relationships and matrilineal kinship in African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) clans. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 57:327–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornuet J-M, Luikart G (1996) Description and power analysis of two tests for detecting recent population bottlenecks from allele frequency data. Genetics 144:2001–2014

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson S (1996) Vietnam’s vanishing elephants: a species strategy. Fauna and Flora International Indochina program, Hanoi

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas-Hamilton I (1973) On the ecology and behaviour of the Lake Manyara elephants. East Afr Wildl J 11:401–403

    Google Scholar 

  • Duckworth JW, Hedges S (1998) A review of the status of Tiger, Asian Elephant, Gaur and Banteng in Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia and Yunnan Province (China), with recommendations for future conservation action. WWF Indochina Programme, Hanoi

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggert LS, Eggert JA, Woodruff DS (2003) Estimating population sizes for elusive animals: the forest elephants of Kakum National Park, Ghana. Mol Ecol 12:1389–1402

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eltringham SK, Malpas RC (1980) The decline of elephant numbers in Rwenzori and Kabalega Falls National Parks, Uganda. Afr J Ecol 18:73–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernando P, Lande R (2000) Molecular genetic and behavioral analysis of social organization in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 48:84–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernando P, Pfrender M, Encalada S, Lande R (2000) Mitochondrial DNA variation, phylogeography and population structure of the Asian elephant. Heredity 84:362–372

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernando P, Vidya TNC, Melnick DJ (2001) Isolation and characterization of tri- and tetranucleotide microsatellite loci in the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus. Mol Ecol Notes 1:232–234

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernando P, Vidya TNC, Rajapakse C et al (2003a) Reliable non-invasive genotyping: fantasy or reality? J Hered 94:115–123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fernando P, Vidya TNC, Payne J, Stuwe M, Davison G, et al (2003b) DNA analysis indicates that Asian elephants are native to Borneo and are therefore a high priority for conservation. PLoS Biol 1:110–115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fleischer R, Perry E, Muralidharan K, Stevens E, Wemmer C (2001) Phylogeography of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) based on mitochondrial DNA. Evolution 55:1882–1892

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gene Codes Corporation (1999) SEQUENCHER a genetic analysis software, version 3.1.1. Gene Codes Corporation, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodnight KF, Queller DQ (1999) Relatedness version 5.0. Available from http://gsoft.smu.edu/Gsoft.html

  • Hedrick P (1995) Gene flow and genetic restoration: the Florida panther as a case study. Conserv Biol 9:996–1007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heffernan PJ, Cuong TV (2004) A review of the conservation status of the Asian elephant in Vietnam. Fauna and Flora International, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemf E (1986) The re-greening of Vietnam. WWF Monthly Report 1986:85–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Lande R (1988) Genetics and demography in biological conservation. Science 241:1455–1460

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laws RM (1974). Behaviour, dynamics and management of elephant populations. IUCN Publ 24:513–529

    Google Scholar 

  • Luikart G, Allendorf F, Cornuet J-M, Sherwin W (1998) Distortion of allele frequency distributions provides a test for recent population bottlenecks. J Hered 89:238–247

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madsen T, Shine R, Olsson M, Wittzell H (1999) Restoration of an inbred adder population. Nature 402:34–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mantel N (1967) The detection of disease clustering and a generalized regression approach. Cancer Res 27:209–220

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1987) Molecular evolutionary genetics. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyakaana S, Abe EL, Arctander P, Siegismund HR (2001) DNA evidence for social behaviour breakdown in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. Anim Conserv 4:231–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyakaana S, Arctander P (1998) Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in the African elephant, Loxodonta africana. Mol Ecol 7:1436–1437

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olivier RCD (1978) Distribution and status of the Asian elephant. Oryx 14:379–424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paetkau D, Waits LP, Clarkson PL et al (1998) Variation in genetic diversity across the range of North American brown bears. Conserv Biol 12:418–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Payne KB, Thompson M, Kramer L (2003) Elephant calling patterns as indicators of group size and composition: the basis for an acoustic monitoring system. Afr J Ecol 41:99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piry S, Luikart G, Cornuet J-M (1997) BOTTLENECK A program for detecting recent effective population size reductions from allele frequency data. Laboratoire de Modélisation et Biologie Evolutive, Montpellier

    Google Scholar 

  • Polet G, Khanh PH (1999) On the Asian Elephants of Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam: In: Osborn FV, Vinton MD (eds) Proceedings of the conference Conservation of the Asian Elephant in Indochina, 24–27 November 1999. Fauna and Flora International, Hanoi, pp 40–45

  • Queller DC, Goodnight KF (1989) Estimating relatedness using genetic markers. Evolution 43:258–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond M, Rousset F (1995) GENEPOP (version 1.2): population genetics software for exact tests and ecumenicism. J Hered 86:248–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice W (1989) Analysing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43:223–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santiapillai C, Jackson P (1990) The Asian elephant: an action plan for its conservation. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider S, Roessli D, Excoffier L (2000) Arlequin: a software for population genetics data analysis. Genetics and Biometry Laboratory, University of Switzerland, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer (1987) Minimum viable populations: coping with uncertainty. In: Soule ME (ed) Viable populations for conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 69–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Sukumar R, Santiapillai C (1996) Elephas maximus: status and distribution. In: Shoshani J, Tassy P (eds) The Proboscidea: evolution and palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 327–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Sukumar R, Varma S, Dang NX, Van Thanh T (2002) The Status and Conservation of Asian Elephants in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam. Technical Report, WWF – Cat Tien National Park Conservation Project, Vietnam

  • Taberlet P, Camarra J-J, Griffin S, et al (1997) Noninvasive genetic tracking of the endangered Pyrenean brown bear population. Mol Ecol 6:869–976

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tuoc D, Santiapillai C (1991) The status of elephant in Vietnam. AsESG Newsletter 7:2–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Varma S, Dang NX, Van Thanh T, Sukumar R (in press) The status and conservation of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam. Oryx

  • Vidya TNC (2004) Population genetic structure and phylogeography of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) with special reference to India. Ph.D. dissertation, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

  • Vidya TNC, Sukumar R (2005) Social organization of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in southern India inferred from microsatellite DNA. J Ethol 23:205–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidya TNC, Fernando P, Melnick DJ, Sukumar R (2005) Population differentiation within and among Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) populations in southern India. Heredity 94:71–80

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vidya TNC, Kumar VR, Arivazhagan C, Sukumar R (2003) Application of molecular sexing to free-ranging Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) populations in southern India. Curr Sci 85:1074–1077

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Field work under this project was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—Asian Elephant Conservation Fund through WWF-Vietnam, while laboratory work was funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and in part by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—Asian Elephant Conservation Fund grant to Prithiviraj Fernando and Don Melnick at Columbia University, New York. We thank Mr. Tran Van Mui (Director of Cat Tien NP), Mr. Gert Polet (Chief Technical Advisor of WWF/Cat Tien NP Conservation Project) and Mr. Bui Huu Manh (GIS specialist Cat Tien NP), for their help and support during the fieldwork. The genetic analyses were carried out at the Indian Institute of Science and the Centre for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University. We thank Prof. Don Melnick and Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando of Columbia University for their support and help, and Prof. V. Nanjundiah at the department of Molecular Reproduction, Development, and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, for extending to us facilities in his laboratory. Raghuram Narasimhan and Anisha Thapa provided GIS support at the Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, a division of Asian Nature Conservation Foundation. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped improve our paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    T. N. C. Vidya & R. Sukumar

  2. Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, c/o Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Surendra Varma

  3. Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen X. Dang

  4. Forest Protection Department of Cat Tien NP, Tan Phu District, Dong Nai Province, Vietnam

    T. Van Thanh

Authors
  1. T. N. C. Vidya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Surendra Varma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nguyen X. Dang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. T. Van Thanh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Sukumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Sukumar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vidya, T.N.C., Varma, S., Dang, N.X. et al. Minimum population size, genetic diversity, and social structure of the Asian elephant in Cat Tien National Park and its adjoining areas, Vietnam, based on molecular genetic analyses. Conserv Genet 8, 1471–1478 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9301-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9301-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation