Tales from the unobserved: what can remote sampling teach us about wildlife

Philippe Henry, November 22, 2012

Remotely collecting samples

Remotely collecting samples

Population structure in Amur tigers

Panthera tigris altaica

• 400 in wild• EN• Bottleneck in

1940’s• Captive

breeding• Stable pop

Historic distribution

Previously found in:• Eastern China (Manchuria) • The Korean Peninsula• Russian Far East (RFE)

Present distribution• Now mainly found in:- RFE- Small areas of China & North Korea

• Estimated 490 individuals left in the wild

Samples• Wild samples: Scat samples collected throughout current range

• Captive samples: 12 individuals from captive population (North American Zoos)

160 scats = 95 individuals• 1-2 g collected in snow

• Stored in screw-cap bottles with silica gel

• Humidity and heat are the two great enemies of DNA!

• Lots of redondant samples

160 scats = 110 DNA = 95 individuals

• 1-2 g collected in snow

• Stored in screw-cap bottles with silica gel

• Humidity and heat are the two great enemies of DNA!

68% Success

Lab Work

Henry et al 2009 Molecular EcologyVolume 18, Issue 15, pages 3173-3184, 23 JUN 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04266.xhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04266.x/full#f2

Disperse easily over Sikhote-Alin Mountains

But human development hinders dispersal

Population Structure

Henry et al 2009 Molecular EcologyVolume 18, Issue 15, pages 3173-3184, 23 JUN 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04266.xhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04266.x/full#f2

Disperse easily over Sikhote-Alin Mountains

But human development hinders dispersal

Population Health ?

Ne = 27

-35

Ne/Nc =

0.05

-0.07

On the bright sideW

ild

Capt

ive

Observed heterozygosity

Zoo population = Potential reservoir of genetic variation

Dispersal in American pikas

Ochotona princeps

• Susceptible to warm temperature

• Mostly active at dawn and dusk

• Sensitive to live trapping

• Elusive

Sampling

Hair Snares

Henry & Russello (2011) European Journal of Wildlife Research; Henry et al. (2011)

Journal of Visualized Experiments

Not so unobserved after all

Henry & Russello (2011) European Journal of Wildlife Research; Henry et al. (2011) Journal of Visualized Experiments

Hair Samples

232 hair - 202 DNA = 168 individuals

232 hair - 202 DNA = 168 individuals

87% Succes

s

Local scale: behavior

25 m

- Up to 7 different individuals sampled in the same hair snare

Local scale: behavior

25 m

- Up to 7 different individuals sampled In the same hair snare

- Neighboring hair snares recovered the same individuals in 4 cases

Local scale: behavior

25 m

- Up to 4 different individuals sampled in the same hair snare

- Neighboring hair snares recovered the same individuals in 4 cases

- In one case, the same individual was sampled 155m apart

155 m

Regional scale: population structure

Henr

y et

al.

(201

2) P

LoS

One

Summer mean maximum temperature (R2adj = 0.81, F-test, F=23, DF=5, p=0.009)

High frequency of allele at low elevations may confer adaptation to warmer conditions

Environmental correlates

Low

Mid

High

Henr

y &

Russ

ello

(Sub

mitt

ed) H

ered

ity

Complementary approaches