Abundance, density, and social structure of African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in a human-modified landscape in southwestern Gabon.

Population monitoring is critical to effective conservation, but forest living taxa can be difficult to directly observe. This has been true of African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), for which we have limited information regarding population size and social behavior despite their threatened conservation status. In this study, we estimated demographic parameters using genetic capture-recapture of forest elephants in the southern Industrial Corridor of the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in southwestern Gabon, which is considered a global stronghold for forest elephants. Additionally, we examined social networks, predicting that we would find matrilineal structure seen in both savanna and forest elephants. Given 95% confidence intervals, we estimate population size in the sampled area to be between 754 and 1,502 individuals and our best density estimate ranges from 0.47 to 0.80 elephants per km2. When extrapolated across the entire Industrial Corridor, this estimate suggests an elephant population size of 3,033 to 6,043 based on abundance or 1,684 to 2,832 based on density, approximately 40-80% smaller than previously suggested. Our social network analysis revealed approximately half of network components included females with different mitochondrial haplotypes suggesting a wider range of variation in forest elephant sociality than previously thought. This study emphasizes the threatened status of forest elephants and demonstrates the need to further refine baseline estimates of population size and knowledge on social behavior in this taxon, both of which will aid in determining how population dynamics in this keystone species may be changing through time in relation to increasing conservation threats.

Mixed infections and hybridisation in monogenean parasites.

Theory predicts that sexual reproduction promotes disease invasion by increasing the evolutionary potential of the parasite, whereas asexual reproduction tends to enhance establishment success and population growth rate. Gyrodactylid monogeneans are ubiquitous ectoparasites of teleost fish, and the evolutionary success of the specious Gyrodactylus genus is thought to be partly due to their use of various modes of reproduction. Gyrodactylus turnbulli is a natural parasite of the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a small, tropical fish used as a model for behavioural, ecological and evolutionary studies. Using experimental infections and a recently developed microsatellite marker, we conclusively show that monogenean parasites reproduce sexually. Conservatively, we estimate that sexual recombination occurs and that between 3.7-10.9% of the parasites in our experimental crosses are hybrid genotypes with ancestors from different laboratory strains of G. turnbulli. We also provide evidence of hybrid vigour and/or inter-strain competition, which appeared to lead to a higher maximum parasite load in mixed infections. Finally, we demonstrate inbreeding avoidance for the first time in platyhelminths which may influence the distribution of parasites within a host and their subsequent exposure to the host's localized immune response. Combined reproductive modes and inbreeding avoidance may explain the extreme evolutionary diversification success of parasites such as Gyrodactylus, where host-parasite coevolution is punctuated by relatively frequent host switching.

Complex phylogeographic history of central African forest elephants and its implications for taxonomy.

BACKGROUND: Previous phylogenetic analyses of African elephants have included limited numbers of forest elephant samples. A large-scale assessment of mitochondrial DNA diversity in forest elephant populations here reveals a more complex evolutionary history in African elephants as a whole than two-taxon models assume. RESULTS: We analysed hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial control region for 71 new central African forest elephants and the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 28 new samples and compare these sequences to other African elephant data. We find that central African forest elephant populations fall into at least two lineages and that west African elephants (both forest and savannah) share their mitochondrial history almost exclusively with central African forest elephants. We also find that central African forest populations show lower genetic diversity than those in savannahs, and infer a recent population expansion. CONCLUSION: Our data do not support the separation of African elephants into two evolutionary lineages. The demographic history of African elephants seems more complex, with a combination of multiple refugial mitochondrial lineages and recurrent hybridization among them rendering a simple forest/savannah elephant split inapplicable to modern African elephant populations.