Inbreeding load and inbreeding depression estimated from lifetime reproductive success in a small, dispersal-limited population.

The fitness consequences of inbreeding and the individual behaviors that prevent its detrimental effects can be challenging to document in wild populations. Here, we use field and molecular data from a 17-year study of banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) to quantify the relationship between inbreeding, mate kinship, and lifetime reproductive success. Using a pedigree that was reconstructed using genetic and field data within a Bayesian framework (median probability of parental assignment = 0.

Group movements in response to competitors' calls indicate conflicts of interest between male and female grey-cheeked mangabeys.

Long-distance vocalizations mediate spacing patterns by allowing groups to choose whether to draw close enough to a neighbor to initiate a short-range interaction. It is unclear, however, whether the patterning of calls and the resulting movements are invariant or change in response to social and ecological variables. In this study, we compare the impact of long-distance calls on neighboring groups' movements in two populations of grey-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) in Uganda, which differed widely in group density and food availability.

Using imputation and mixture model approaches to integrate multi-state capture-recapture models with assignment information.

In this article, we first extend the superpopulation capture-recapture model to multiple states (locations or populations) for two age groups., Wen et al., (2011; 2013) developed a new approach combining capture-recapture data with population assignment information to estimate the relative contributions of in situ births and immigrants to the growth of a single study population.

Microsatellite analyses across three diverse vertebrate transcriptomes (Acipenser fulvescens, Ambystoma tigrinum, and Dipodomys spectabilis).

Historically, many population genetics studies have utilized microsatellite markers sampled at random from the genome and presumed to be selectively neutral. Recent studies, however, have shown that microsatellites can occur in transcribed regions, where they are more likely to be under selection. In this study, we mined microsatellites from transcriptomes generated by 454-pyrosequencing for three vertebrate species: lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), and kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis).

A priori and a posteriori approaches for finding genes of evolutionary interest in non-model species: osmoregulatory genes in the kidney transcriptome of the desert rodent Dipodomys spectabilis (banner-tailed kangaroo rat).

One common goal in evolutionary biology is the identification of genes underlying adaptive traits of evolutionary interest. Recently next-generation sequencing techniques have greatly facilitated such evolutionary studies in species otherwise depauperate of genomic resources. Kangaroo rats (Dipodomys sp.

Mechanisms of kin discrimination inferred from pedigrees and the spatial distribution of mates.

Where animals avoid inbreeding, different mechanisms of kin discrimination can leave different 'signatures' in the patterns of observed mate relationship. For example, consider a species with no paternal care. If a female avoids mating with familiar individuals, one would expect a deficit of offspring whose parents are maternal half-siblings, but paternal half-siblings would be unfamiliar with each other and thus have offspring at the frequency expected by chance.

On valuing patches: estimating contributions to metapopulation growth with reverse-time capture-recapture modelling.

Metapopulation ecology has historically been rich in theory, yet analytical approaches for inferring demographic relationships among local populations have been few. We show how reverse-time multi-state capture-recapture models can be used to estimate the importance of local recruitment and interpopulation dispersal to metapopulation growth. We use 'contribution metrics' to infer demographic connectedness among eight local populations of banner-tailed kangaroo rats, to assess their demographic closure, and to investigate sources of variation in these contributions.

Do Dispersing Monkeys Follow Kin? Evidence from Gray-cheeked Mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena).

Among social vertebrates, immigrants may incur a substantial fitness cost when they attempt to join a new group. Dispersers could reduce that cost, or increase their probability of mating via coalition formation, by immigrating into groups containing first- or second-degree relatives. We here examine whether dispersing males tend to move into groups containing fathers or brothers in gray-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Long-term Site Fidelity and Individual Home Range Shifts in Lophocebus albigena.

We investigated long-term site fidelity of gray-cheeked mangabey (Lophocebus albigena) groups in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Concurrently, we monitored shifts in home range by individual females and subadult and adult males. We documented home range stability by calculating the area of overlap in successive years, and by recording the drift of each group's monthly centroid from its initial location.

The influence of density and sex on patterns of fine-scale genetic structure.

Natal philopatry is expected to limit gene flow and give rise to fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS). The banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) is unusual among mammals because both sexes are philopatric. This provides an opportunity to study patterns of local SGS faced by philopatric and dispersing animals.

Characterization of expressed class II MHC sequences in the banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) reveals multiple DRB loci.

Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are exceptionally polymorphic due to the combined effects of natural and sexual selection. Most research in wild populations has focused on the second exon of a single class II locus (DRB), but complete gene sequences can provide an illuminating backdrop for studies of intragenic selection, recombination, and organization. To this end, we characterized class II loci in the banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis).

Use, misuse and extensions of "ideal gas" models of animal encounter.

Biologists have repeatedly rediscovered classical models from physics predicting collision rates in an ideal gas. These models, and their two-dimensional analogues, have been used to predict rates and durations of encounters among animals or social groups that move randomly and independently, given population density, velocity, and distance at which an encounter occurs. They have helped to separate cases of mixed-species association based on behavioural attraction from those that simply reflect high population densities, and to detect cases of attraction or avoidance among conspecifics.

Recent demographic bottlenecks are not accompanied by a genetic signature in banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis).

Single-sample methods of bottleneck detection are now routine analyses in studies of wild populations and conservation genetics. Three common approaches to bottleneck detection are the heterozygosity excess, mode-shift, and M-ratio tests. Empirical groundtruthing of these methods is difficult, but their performances are critical for the accurate reconstruction of population demography.

Parentage analysis detects cryptic precapture dispersal in a philopatric rodent.

Locating birthplaces using genetic parentage determination can increase the precision and accuracy with which animal dispersal patterns are established. We re-analyse patterns of movement away from the birthplace as a function of time, sex and population density for a sample of 303 banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis. We located birth sites using a combination of likelihood-based parentage analysis with live-trapping of mothers during the breeding season.

Patterns of male residency and intergroup transfer in gray-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena).

We describe the movements and fates of 36 collared gray-cheeked male mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) that resided in seven social groups in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The male mangabeys were captured, radiotagged, and then contacted regularly over a period of up to 8 years. Individuals varied considerably in how tightly they were associated with their groups.

Gene dispersal and outbreeding in a philopatric mammal.

Extensive mark-recapture data from banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis, have shown that both males and females are highly philopatric and suggest the possibility of close inbreeding. However, indirect analyses based on genetic structure appear to contradict direct observations, suggesting longer dispersal distances. Using microsatellite genotypes from most members of a banner-tailed kangaroo rat population during five successive breeding seasons, we ask how relatedness is influenced by dispersal and how it in turn influences mating patterns.

Mangabey (Cercocebus albigena) population density, group size, and ranging: A twenty-year comparison.

Mangabey groups studied in the Kibale Forest Reserve, Uganda, in 1971 were studied again in 1991 using similar data collection protocols. The results were used to assess the effect of group size on activity budgets and travel costs, and to document the effects of habitat changes on mangabey density and demography. Larger mangabey groups traveled longer distances per day than smaller groups.

DISPERSAL AND GENETIC STRUCTURE IN KANGAROO RATS.

We used spatial autocorrelation of allele frequencies to examine local structure in a population of bannertailed kangaroo rats for which Wright's isolation-by-distance model seems applicable, and for which we can estimate neighborhood size based on 10 years of data on demography and dispersal. The uniform dispersion and strong philopatric tendencies of this species provide a test case for the idea that restricted dispersal can lead to local genetic structure in small mammals. Whether we considered such complications as nonnormal dispersal distances, variation in lifetime reproductive success, fluctuating population density, and adult as well as juvenile dispersal, our estimate of effective population size was fewer than 15 animals.

Habitat acoustics and primate communication.

The acoustic characteristics of three tropical habitats were investigated to determine how they might constrain the structure of primate signals. Ambient noise was measured, along with signal attenuation and aspects of signal degradation (reverberation, amplitude fluctuations, and pulse train modulation depth). These measures allowed estimation of the effects of habitat acoustics on the distances over which calls would be audible (the "active space") and over which primates could reliably transmit amplitude-modulated or pulse-coded information.

Monkeys and matrices: On the coexistence of "omnivorous" forest primates.

Members of competing species may influence their share of food sources either by finding new feeding sites more frequently or by more effectively monopolizing those sites once found. We describe a model that separates the effects of these two forms of competition; in a set of African forest primates, only the first has a major effect on species' relative population densities. The model identifies factors which might lead to a greater role of interference at food sources in other communities.