SREL Reprint #1954
CAPITULO 5
VARIABILIDAD GENETICA EN LA POBLACION DE
VENADO COLA BLANCA EN LA ISLA SAN LUCAS,
COSTA RICA, Y LAS IMPLICACIONES PARA SU
MANEJO
Christopher Vaughan, Krishna Fisher, Miguel A. Rodriguez,
Paul Johns y Michael Smith
ABSTRACT
Muscle, liver and blood were collected from seventeen white-tailed deer on Isla
San Lucas (,SL), Costa Rica, in December, 1985 to determine the genetic
characteristics of the population. Thirty-four loci were analyzed using
electrophoretic techniques. Genetic information from white-tailed deer samples
was compared between three sites: 1) ISL (n = 17), 2) Savannah River Plant,
Georgia, USA (SRP) (n = 6.349), and 3) Suriname (SSA) (n = 1 0). From 18
loci assayed from deer across the three locations for multilocus heterozygosity
(H), alleles per locus (A), and polymorphism (P). it was found that SRP
white-tailed deer had H = 0, 1 0; A = 2,17; y P = 38,9%; the SSA white-tailed
deer sample had H = 0,039; A = 1, 1 1; y P = 1 1, 1; and the white-tailed deer
sample from ISL had H = 0,039; A = 1,1 1; y P = 1 1, 1. Genetic distances
between the three white-tailed deer populations (ISL, SRP, SSA) was: ISL vs.
SRP, D = 0,085; SRP vs. SSA, D = 0.164; y ISL vs. SSA, D = O,l 12. Two
new alleles not previously reported in North American or SSA white-tailed deer
were observed in ISL deer for two of the 34 loci angled, EST-2 (110) and TF
(108). Thirty-two loci were assayed from ft ISL and SRP samples. White-tailed
deer from ISL had H = 0,055; A = 1, 1 9; y P = 18,75%, while the white-tailed
deer from SRP had H = O,l 17; A = 2,22; y P = 46,88%. Genetic distance
between the two populations was D = 0, 1 69. These results show that the low
genetic variability of the ISL deer population is more similar to SSA then to SRP.
Possible explanations for this low genetic variability include: insularity, small island
size, founder and bottleneck effects resulting in small effective population size. The
same factors may explain low H and P values for ISL deer. Deer selected for
reintroductions should have the highest genetic variability possible. However, to
date apparently the use of fawn and adult white-tailed deer from ISL for
reintroductions has been successful and we recommend to continue this work until
new information shows the contrary.
SREL Reprint #1954
Vaughan, C., K. Fisher, M.A. Rodriguez, P. Johns, and M. Smith. 1995. Variabilidad genetica en la poblacion de venado cola blanca en la isla San Lucas, Costa Rica, y las implicaciones para su manejo. Ecologia y manejo del venado cola blanca en Mexico y Costa Rica 91-102.
