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Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas

BACKGROUND: Molecular studies in social mammals rarely compare the inferences gained from genetic analyses with field information, especially in the context of dispersal. In this study, we used genetic data to elucidate sex-specific dispersal dynamics in the Virunga Massif mountain gorilla populatio...

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Autores principales: Roy, Justin, Gray, Maryke, Stoinski, Tara, Robbins, Martha M, Vigilant, Linda
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113491/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25001262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-14-21
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author Roy, Justin
Gray, Maryke
Stoinski, Tara
Robbins, Martha M
Vigilant, Linda
author_facet Roy, Justin
Gray, Maryke
Stoinski, Tara
Robbins, Martha M
Vigilant, Linda
author_sort Roy, Justin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Molecular studies in social mammals rarely compare the inferences gained from genetic analyses with field information, especially in the context of dispersal. In this study, we used genetic data to elucidate sex-specific dispersal dynamics in the Virunga Massif mountain gorilla population (Gorilla beringei beringei), a primate species characterized by routine male and female dispersal from stable mixed-sex social groups. Specifically, we conducted spatial genetic structure analyses for each sex and linked our genetically-based observations with some key demographic and behavioural data from this population. RESULTS: To investigate the spatial genetic structure of mountain gorillas, we analysed the genotypes of 193 mature individuals at 11 microsatellite loci by means of isolation-by-distance and spatial autocorrelation analyses. Although not all males and females disperse, female gorillas displayed an isolation-by-distance pattern among groups and a signal of dispersal at short distances from their natal group based on spatial autocorrelation analyses. In contrast, male genotypes were not correlated with spatial distance, thus suggesting a larger mean dispersal distance for males as compared to females. Both within sex and mixed-sex pairs were on average genetically more related within groups than among groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence for an intersexual difference in dispersal distance in the mountain gorilla. Overall, it stresses the importance of investigating spatial genetic structure patterns on a sex-specific basis to better understand the dispersal dynamics of the species under investigation. It is currently poorly understood why some male and female gorillas disperse while others remain in the natal group. Our results on average relatedness within and across groups confirm that groups often contain close relatives. While inbreeding avoidance may play a role in driving female dispersal, we note that more detailed dyadic genetic analyses are needed to shed light on the role of inbreeding avoidance as an ultimate cause of female dispersal in mountain gorillas.
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spelling pubmed-41134912014-07-29 Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas Roy, Justin Gray, Maryke Stoinski, Tara Robbins, Martha M Vigilant, Linda BMC Ecol Research Article BACKGROUND: Molecular studies in social mammals rarely compare the inferences gained from genetic analyses with field information, especially in the context of dispersal. In this study, we used genetic data to elucidate sex-specific dispersal dynamics in the Virunga Massif mountain gorilla population (Gorilla beringei beringei), a primate species characterized by routine male and female dispersal from stable mixed-sex social groups. Specifically, we conducted spatial genetic structure analyses for each sex and linked our genetically-based observations with some key demographic and behavioural data from this population. RESULTS: To investigate the spatial genetic structure of mountain gorillas, we analysed the genotypes of 193 mature individuals at 11 microsatellite loci by means of isolation-by-distance and spatial autocorrelation analyses. Although not all males and females disperse, female gorillas displayed an isolation-by-distance pattern among groups and a signal of dispersal at short distances from their natal group based on spatial autocorrelation analyses. In contrast, male genotypes were not correlated with spatial distance, thus suggesting a larger mean dispersal distance for males as compared to females. Both within sex and mixed-sex pairs were on average genetically more related within groups than among groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides evidence for an intersexual difference in dispersal distance in the mountain gorilla. Overall, it stresses the importance of investigating spatial genetic structure patterns on a sex-specific basis to better understand the dispersal dynamics of the species under investigation. It is currently poorly understood why some male and female gorillas disperse while others remain in the natal group. Our results on average relatedness within and across groups confirm that groups often contain close relatives. While inbreeding avoidance may play a role in driving female dispersal, we note that more detailed dyadic genetic analyses are needed to shed light on the role of inbreeding avoidance as an ultimate cause of female dispersal in mountain gorillas. BioMed Central 2014-07-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4113491/ /pubmed/25001262 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-14-21 Text en Copyright © 2014 Roy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Roy, Justin
Gray, Maryke
Stoinski, Tara
Robbins, Martha M
Vigilant, Linda
Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title_full Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title_fullStr Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title_full_unstemmed Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title_short Fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
title_sort fine-scale genetic structure analyses suggest further male than female dispersal in mountain gorillas
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113491/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25001262
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-14-21
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