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Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Based Genetic Assessment Indicated Distinct Variation and Low Genetic Exchange Among the Three Subspecies of Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii)

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Abstract

The swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii) occurs, primarily, in the wet grasslands of the Himalayan foothills as well as the dry grasslands of central India. Three subspecies have been identified, namely R. duvaucelii duvaucelii, R. duvaucelii branderi and R. duvaucelii ranjitsinhi. Degradation of grassland habitats led to a drastic decline in the total swamp deer population in the early 19th century. Even though the species has recently shown signs of recovery, it is still vulnerable to the small-population paradigm. Effective management plans need to be put in place to increase the population through scientific intervention. The current genetic variation within the three subspecies of R. duvaucelii is unclear, and this is hindering effective conservation planning. We examined the genetic variability, population structure and demography of the three subspecies of swamp deer using the mtDNA control region and microsatellite analysis. Despite the spatial isolation of the populations, we found a high level of variation and weak divergence among the subspecies. The genetic differentiation (F ST ) between the subspecies and the mismatch distribution of haplotypes indicated recent colonization by these subspecies. Population bottleneck analysis indicated that the existing subspecies and their populations are at demographic equilibrium and are stable. The study highlights the need for effective conservation management intervention to maintain the population size and genetic diversity. It also indicates that all the subspecies need to be managed as separate conservation units.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Government of India’s (Department of Science and Technology) Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)-sponsored projects SR/SO/AS-077/2013 and SR/S0/AS-029/2012 and Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The forest departments of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are acknowledged for granting permission to collect biological samples. The help and support provided by the Director, WII and the Dean, WII and Dr. Y.V. Jhala, Scientist G at WII, are acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Pranab Pal, FTO, WII for field support and the two anonymous referees for constructive comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Post Box No. 18, Dehra Dun, U.K., 248 001, India

    Ajit Kumar, Mirza Ghazanfar Ullah Ghazi, Syed Ainul Hussain & Sandeep Kumar Gupta

  2. Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar, U.K., India

    Ajit Kumar & Dinesh Bhatt

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  1. Ajit Kumar
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Correspondence to Sandeep Kumar Gupta.

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Supplementary material 1

Supplementary Figure 1: Mismatch pairwise distribution graphs for swamp deer populations. The X axis shows number of pairwise differences and the Y axis shows frequency of pairwise comparisons. The expected and observed frequencies of mismatch distribution were represented in solid and dotted line, respectively. Graph A is for the all populations; B = DNP population; C = JJCR population; D = captive populations of LZG and SVZP; E = KTR population, and F = KZNP population. (JPEG 309 kb)

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Kumar, A., Ghazi, M.G.U., Hussain, S.A. et al. Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Based Genetic Assessment Indicated Distinct Variation and Low Genetic Exchange Among the Three Subspecies of Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii). Evol Biol 44, 31–42 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-016-9387-2

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