Franciscanas are the most endangered dolphins in the Southwestern Atlantic. Due to their coastal and estuarine habits, franciscanas suffer from extensive fisheries bycatch, as well as from habitat loss and degradation. Four Franciscana Management Areas (FMA), proposed based on biology, demography, morphology and genetic data, were incorporated into management planning and in the delineation of research efforts. We re-evaluated that proposal through the analysis of control region sequences from franciscanas throughout their distribution range (N = 162), including novel sequences from the northern limit of the species and two other previously unsampled localities in Brazil. A deep evolutionary break was observed between franciscanas from the northern and southern portions of the species distribution, indicating that they must be managed as two Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESU). Furthermore, additional FMAs should be recognised to accommodate the genetic differentiation found in each ESU. These results have immediate consequences for the conservation and management of this endangered species.
Laboratório de Biodiversidade Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos e Bioindicadores, Faculdade de Oceanografia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Laboratório de Biodiversidade Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Organização Consciência Ambiental, Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, Brazil;Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade da Região de Joinville, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil;Laboratório de Patologia Comparada de Animais Selvagens, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;Projeto Biopesca, Praia Grande, São Paulo, Brazil;Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos e Bioindicadores, Faculdade de Oceanografia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos e Bioindicadores, Faculdade de Oceanografia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Laboratório de Biodiversidade Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Recommended Citation:
Haydée A. Cunha,Bruna V. Medeiros,Lupércio A. Barbosa,et al. Population Structure of the Endangered Franciscana Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei): Reassessing Management Units[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(1)