Splitting or lumping? A conservation dilemma exemplified by the critically endangered dama gazelle (Nanger dama)

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 23;9(6):e98693. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098693. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Managers of threatened species often face the dilemma of whether to keep populations separate to conserve local adaptations and minimize the risk of outbreeding, or whether to manage populations jointly to reduce loss of genetic diversity and minimise inbreeding. In this study we examine genetic relatedness and diversity in three of the five last remaining wild populations of dama gazelle and a number of captive populations, using mtDNA control region and cytochrome b data. Despite the sampled populations belonging to the three putative subspecies, which are delineated according to phenotypes and geographical location, we find limited evidence for phylogeographical structure within the data and no genetic support for the putative subspecies. In the light of these data we discuss the relevance of inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, adaptive variation, genetic drift, and phenotypic variation to the conservation of the dama gazelle and make some recommendations for its future conservation management. The genetic data suggest that the best conservation approach is to view the dama gazelle as a single species without subspecific divisions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Africa
  • Animals
  • Antelopes / classification*
  • Antelopes / genetics*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources*
  • Cytochromes b / genetics
  • Endangered Species*
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Geography
  • Haplotypes / genetics
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Phylogeography
  • Population Dynamics

Substances

  • Cytochromes b

Grants and funding

Funding for genetic analysis was provided by Al Ain Zoo and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The Sahara Conservation Fund, the Zoological Society of London, Saint Louis Zoo, Al Ain Zoo, the Addax and Oryx Foundation, and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed funded the collection of the dama gazelle samples from the wild. The authors' time during the project was funded by their own institutions and TLS's work was additionally partially supported by FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/73680/2010). Some funders to the project (Al Ain Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Sahara Conservation Fund, Zoological Society of London) were directly involved in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, and preparation of the manuscript via the participation of their employees in the project. These individuals are authors on this manuscript. The other funders (Saint Louis Zoo, the Addax and Oryx Foundation, FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed) had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.