Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal

Understanding the genetic and fitness consequences of anthropogenic bottlenecks is crucial for biodiversity conservation. However, studies of bottlenecked populations combining genomic approaches with fitness data are rare. Theory predicts that severe bottlenecks deplete genetic diversity, exacerbate inbreeding depression and decrease population viability. However, actual outcomes are complex and depend on how a species' unique demography affects its genetic load. We used population genetic and veterinary pathology data, demographic modelling, whole-genome resequencing and forward genetic simulations to investigate the genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal. We found no evidence of inbreeding depression within the contemporary population for key fitness components, including body mass, blubber thickness and susceptibility to parasites and disease. However, we detected a genomic signature of a recent extreme bottleneck (effective population size = 6; 95% confidence interval = 5.0-7.5) that will have purged much of the genetic load, potentially leading to the lack of observed inbreeding depression in our study. Our results further suggest that deleterious genetic variation strongly impacted the post-bottleneck population dynamics of the northern elephant seal. Our study provides comprehensive empirical insights into the intricate dynamics underlying species-specific responses to anthropogenic bottlenecks.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Ecology & Evolution
Published
2024-09-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02533-2
Citations
22
Primary Topic
Marine animal studies overview
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.10

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article

Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal

Rebecca Shuhua Chen, Marty Kardos, Carolina A. Bonin, Daniel Rickert et al.
22 citations
Nature Ecology & Evolution
Marine animal studies overview
10.10
article

Genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal

Rebecca Shuhua Chen, Marty Kardos, Carolina A. Bonin, Daniel Rickert, Joseph I. Hoffman, Jörn Kalinowski, William Amos, Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra, Karl Köhrer, Martin A. Stoffel, Thorsten Wachtmeister, David L. J. Vendrami, Frances M. D. Gulland, Kosmas Hench, Mike E Goebel
article en
22 citations

Abstract

Understanding the genetic and fitness consequences of anthropogenic bottlenecks is crucial for biodiversity conservation. However, studies of bottlenecked populations combining genomic approaches with fitness data are rare. Theory predicts that severe bottlenecks deplete genetic diversity, exacerbate inbreeding depression and decrease population viability. However, actual outcomes are complex and depend on how a species' unique demography affects its genetic load. We used population genetic and veterinary pathology data, demographic modelling, whole-genome resequencing and forward genetic simulations to investigate the genomic and fitness consequences of a near-extinction event in the northern elephant seal. We found no evidence of inbreeding depression within the contemporary population for key fitness components, including body mass, blubber thickness and susceptibility to parasites and disease. However, we detected a genomic signature of a recent extreme bottleneck (effective population size = 6; 95% confidence interval = 5.0-7.5) that will have purged much of the genetic load, potentially leading to the lack of observed inbreeding depression in our study. Our results further suggest that deleterious genetic variation strongly impacted the post-bottleneck population dynamics of the northern elephant seal. Our study provides comprehensive empirical insights into the intricate dynamics underlying species-specific responses to anthropogenic bottlenecks.

Nature Ecology & EvolutionVol. 8(12)
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (US), Turing Institute (GB), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US), British Antarctic Survey (GB), Hampton University (US), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Bielefeld University (DE), Hochschule Bielefeld (DE), University of Münster (DE), University of Cambridge (GB), British Library (GB), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Fisheries Science Center (US), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE), University of York (GB), University of California, Davis (US)
National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Universität Bielefeld
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Marine animal studies overview
10.10
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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