Genetic structure and evidence for recent population decline in Eurasian otter populations in the Czech and Slovak Republics: implications for conservation

Abstract

AbstractOver the latter part of the 20th century, Eurasian otter Lutra lutra populations suffered dramatic declines, resulting in extinction or fragmentation of populations in many western and central European countries. Part of the Czech otter population became totally isolated while the Slovak population remained partly connected to the relatively continuous central and eastern European otter distribution range. This paper examines the genetic structure and past demographic history of otters in the Czech and Slovak Republics, using microsatellite nuclear markers amplified from DNA extracted from tissue and faecal samples. A relatively high level of genetic differentiation was found between the Czech and Slovak populations (FST=0.154, P=0.0002), supported by a perfect assignment in Bayesian cluster analysis. Both the Czech and Slovak populations showed significant heterozygosity excess (assuming an infinite allele model), indicating recent population bottlenecks. A very recent population decline was also suggested by coalescent analysis, inferring a drop to c. 25% of past effective population size in both populations. The timing of the decline was in accordance with published data from otter surveys, suggesting that the strongest decline probably occurred between the 1970s and the mid‐1990s. The results of this study confirm that otter populations remain vulnerable to any violent demographic change and, despite the claims of fish‐farmers and anglers for legal culls, it is highly desirable that they remain a strongly protected species in both countries. The spreading and re‐connection of otter populations observed recently is essential for the future health of the populations, and should be supported through habitat conservation.