|
1
|
Pace DS, Di Marco C, Giacomini G, Ferri S, Silvestri M, Papale E, Casoli E, Ventura D, Mingione M, Alaimo Di Loro P, Jona Lasinio G, Ardizzone G. Capitoline Dolphins: Residency Patterns and Abundance Estimate of Tursiops truncatus at the Tiber River Estuary (Mediterranean Sea). BIOLOGY 2021; 10:275. [PMID: 33800538 PMCID: PMC8066396 DOI: 10.3390/biology10040275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Periodic assessments of population status and trends to detect natural influences and human effects on coastal dolphin are often limited by lack of baseline information. Here, we investigated for the first time the site-fidelity patterns and estimated the population size of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at the Tiber River estuary (central Mediterranean, Tyrrhenian Sea, Rome, Italy) between 2017 and 2020. We used photo-identification data and site-fidelity metrics to study the tendency of dolphins to remain in, or return to, the study area, and capture-recapture models to estimate the population abundance. In all, 347 unique individuals were identified. The hierarchical cluster analysis highlighted 3 clusters, labeled resident (individuals encountered at least five times, in three different months, over three distinct years; n = 42), part-time (individuals encountered at least on two occasions in a month, in at least two different years; n = 73), and transient (individuals encountered on more than one occasion, in more than 1 month, none of them in more than 1 year; n = 232), each characterized by site-fidelity metrics. Open POPAN modeling estimated a population size of 529 individuals (95% CI: 456-614), showing that the Capitoline (Roman) coastal area and nearby regions surrounding the Tiber River estuary represent an important, suitable habitat for bottlenose dolphins, despite their proximity to one of the major urban centers in the world (the city of Rome). Given the high number of individuals in the area and the presence of resident individuals with strong site fidelity, we suggest that conservation plans should not be focused only close to the Tiber River mouths but extended to cover a broader scale of area.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Silvia Pace
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Chiara Di Marco
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Giancarlo Giacomini
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Sara Ferri
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Margherita Silvestri
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Elena Papale
- CNR-IAS, Campobello di Mazara, 91021 Trapani, Italy;
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, 10123 Torino, Italy
| | - Edoardo Casoli
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Daniele Ventura
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| | - Marco Mingione
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.M.); (P.A.D.L.); (G.J.L.)
| | - Pierfrancesco Alaimo Di Loro
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.M.); (P.A.D.L.); (G.J.L.)
| | - Giovanna Jona Lasinio
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (M.M.); (P.A.D.L.); (G.J.L.)
| | - Giandomenico Ardizzone
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (C.D.M.); (G.G.); (S.F.); (M.S.); (E.C.); (D.V.); (G.A.)
| |
Collapse
|
|
2
|
Nykänen M, Kaschner K, Dabin W, Brownlow A, Davison NJ, Deaville R, Garilao C, Kesner-Reyes K, Gilbert MTP, Penrose R, Islas-Villanueva V, Wales N, Ingram SN, Rogan E, Louis M, Foote AD. Postglacial Colonization of Northern Coastal Habitat by Bottlenose Dolphins: A Marine Leading-Edge Expansion? J Hered 2020; 110:662-674. [PMID: 31211393 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esz039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 06/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Oscillations in the Earth's temperature and the subsequent retreating and advancing of ice-sheets around the polar regions are thought to have played an important role in shaping the distribution and genetic structuring of contemporary high-latitude populations. After the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), retreating of the ice-sheets would have enabled early colonizers to rapidly occupy suitable niches to the exclusion of other conspecifics, thereby reducing genetic diversity at the leading-edge. Bottlenose dolphins (genus Tursiops) form distinct coastal and pelagic ecotypes, with finer-scale genetic structuring observed within each ecotype. We reconstruct the postglacial colonization of the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) by bottlenose dolphins using habitat modeling and phylogenetics. The AquaMaps model hindcasted suitable habitat for the LGM in the Atlantic lower latitude waters and parts of the Mediterranean Sea. The time-calibrated phylogeny, constructed with 86 complete mitochondrial genomes including 30 generated for this study and created using a multispecies coalescent model, suggests that the expansion to the available coastal habitat in the NEA happened via founder events starting ~15 000 years ago (95% highest posterior density interval: 4 900-26 400). The founders of the 2 distinct coastal NEA populations comprised as few as 2 maternal lineages that originated from the pelagic population. The low effective population size and genetic diversity estimated for the shared ancestral coastal population subsequent to divergence from the pelagic source population are consistent with leading-edge expansion. These findings highlight the legacy of the Late Pleistocene glacial cycles on the genetic structuring and diversity of contemporary populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Milaja Nykänen
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland
| | - Kristin Kaschner
- Department of Biometry and Environmental System Analysis, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Straße, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Willy Dabin
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé. UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France.,Observatoire PELAGIS, UMS 3462 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, 5 allées de l'Océan, La Rochelle, France
| | - Andrew Brownlow
- Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, SRUC Veterinary Services, Drummondhill, Inverness, UK
| | - Nicholas J Davison
- Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme, SRUC Veterinary Services, Drummondhill, Inverness, UK
| | - Rob Deaville
- UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, The Wellcome Building, Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK
| | | | | | - M Thomas P Gilbert
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Rod Penrose
- Marine Environmental Monitoring, Penwalk, Llechryd, Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales, UK
| | | | - Nathan Wales
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Simon N Ingram
- Marine Vertebrate Research Group, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, UK
| | - Emer Rogan
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland
| | - Marie Louis
- Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé. UMR 7372 CNRS-Université de La Rochelle, Villiers-en-Bois, France.,Scottish Oceans Institute, East Sands, St Andrews, UK
| | - Andrew D Foote
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland.,Section for Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|