Unsustainable anthropogenic mortality disrupts natal dispersal and promotes inbreeding in leopards.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic mortality of wildlife is typically inferred from measures of the absolute decline in population numbers. However, increasing evidence suggests that indirect demographic effects including changes to the age, sex, and social structure of populations, as well as the behavior of survivors, can profoundly impact population health and viability. Specifically, anthropogenic mortality of wildlife (especially when unsustainable) and fragmentation of the spatial distribution of individuals (home-ranges) could disrupt natal dispersal mechanisms, with long-term consequences to genetic structure, by compromising outbreeding behavior and gene flow. We investigate this threat in African leopards (Panthera pardus pardus), a polygynous felid with male-biased natal dispersal. Using a co

SUBMITTER: Naude VN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7160178 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature