ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1827-1493
Current Organisation
University of St Andrews
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Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 04-11-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.11.03.515020
Abstract: Parallel evolution provides among the strongest evidence of the role of natural selection in shaping adaptation to the local environment. Yet, the chronology, mode and tempo of the process of parallel evolution remains broadly debated and discussed in the field of evolutionary biology. In this study, we harness the temporal resolution of paleogenomics to understand the tempo and independence of parallel coastal ecotype adaptation in common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ). For this, we generated whole genome resequencing data from subfossil dolphins (8,610-5,626 years BP) originating from around the formation time of new coastal habitat and compared them with data from contemporary populations. Genomic data revealed a shift in genetic affinity, with the oldest ancient s le being closer to the pelagic populations, while the younger s les had intermediate ancestry that showed greater affinity with the local contemporary coastal populations. We found coastal-associated genotypes in the genome of our highest coverage ancient s le, SP1060, providing rare evidence of rapid adaptation from standing genetic variation. Lastly, using admixture graph analyses, we found a reticulate evolutionary history between pelagic and coastal populations. Ancestral gene flow from coastal populations was the probable source of standing genetic variation present in the pelagic populations that enabled rapid adaptation to newly emerged coastal habitat. The genetic response to past climatic warming provides an understanding of how bottlenose dolphins will respond to ongoing directional climate change and shifting coastlines.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 24-04-2007
Abstract: A number of dolphin species, though highly mobile, show genetic structure among parapatric and sometimes sympatric populations. However, little is known about the temporal patterns of population structure for these species. Here, we apply Bayesian inference and data from ancient DNA to assess the structure and dynamics of bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) populations in the coastal waters of the UK. We show that regional population structure in UK waters is consistent with earlier studies suggesting local habitat dependence for this species in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic. One genetically differentiated UK population went extinct at least 100 years ago and has not been replaced. The data indicate that this was a local extinction, and not a case of historical range shift or contraction. One possible interpretation is a declining metapopulation and conservation need for this species in the UK.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-07-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-023-39532-Z
Abstract: Parallel evolution provides strong evidence of adaptation by natural selection due to local environmental variation. Yet, the chronology, and mode of the process of parallel evolution remains debated. Here, we harness the temporal resolution of paleogenomics to address these long-standing questions, by comparing genomes originating from the mid-Holocene (8610-5626 years before present, BP) to contemporary pairs of coastal-pelagic ecotypes of bottlenose dolphin. We find that the affinity of ancient s les to coastal populations increases as the age of the s les decreases. We assess the youngest genome (5626 years BP) at sites previously inferred to be under parallel selection to coastal habitats and find it contained coastal-associated genotypes. Thus, coastal-associated variants rose to detectable frequencies close to the emergence of coastal habitat. Admixture graph analyses reveal a reticulate evolutionary history between pelagic and coastal populations, sharing standing genetic variation that facilitated rapid adaptation to newly emerged coastal habitats.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-11-2015
DOI: 10.1038/SREP16182
Abstract: Fidelity to migratory destinations is an important driver of connectivity in marine and avian species. Here we assess the role of maternally directed learning of migratory habitats, or migratory culture, on the population structure of the endangered Australian and New Zealand southern right whale. Using DNA profiles, comprising mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes (500 bp), microsatellite genotypes (17 loci) and sex from 128 in idually-identified whales, we find significant differentiation among winter calving grounds based on both mtDNA haplotype (F ST = 0.048, Φ ST = 0.109, p 0.01) and microsatellite allele frequencies (F ST = 0.008, p 0.01), consistent with long-term fidelity to calving areas. However, most genetic comparisons of calving grounds and migratory corridors were not significant, supporting the idea that whales from different calving grounds mix in migratory corridors. Furthermore, we find a significant relationship between δ 13 C stable isotope profiles of 66 Australian southern right whales, a proxy for feeding ground location and both mtDNA haplotypes and kinship inferred from microsatellite-based estimators of relatedness. This indicates migratory culture may influence genetic structure on feeding grounds. This fidelity to migratory destinations is likely to influence population recovery, as long-term estimates of historical abundance derived from estimates of genetic ersity indicate the South Pacific calving grounds remain at % of pre-whaling abundance.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/MMS.12871
Abstract: Southern right whales (SRW) are capital breeders that use stored energy reserves to sustain themselves and their calves on nursery areas. With successful calving events declining in some SRW populations, it has been hypothesized that nutritional stress in adult females causes reproductive failure or death of calves shortly after birth. Here we compared offsets in carbon and nitrogen isotope values of mothers and their offspring (Δ 13 C calf‐cow and Δ 15 N calf‐cow ) among three SRW populations. SRW from Aotearoa New Zealand, with high population growth rates and body conditions scores, have negative Δ 13 C calf‐cow suggesting calves are utilizing 13 C‐depleted lipid carbon in milk to fuel the synthesis of nonessential amino acids used to build new tissues and rapidly grow. In contrast, a significantly positive Δ 13 C calf‐cow offset previously reported for SRW from Argentina during a mass die‐off event was hypothesized to be due to calves consuming milk with low lipid content. Patterns in Δ 15 N calf‐cow were more difficult to interpret and highlight the complexity in nitrogen transfer between mother and offspring. When combined with similar data collected from Brazil and during a low mortality year in Argentina, we hypothesize this approach provides a way to retrospectively compare nutritional condition of breeding adult female SRW across nursery areas.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-05-2018
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-04-2016
Abstract: Conservation of ecological communities requires deepening our understanding of genetic ersity patterns and drivers at community-wide scales. Here, we use seascape genetic analysis of a ersity metric, allelic richness (AR), for 47 reef species s led across 13 Hawaiian Islands to empirically demonstrate that large reefs high in coral cover harbour the greatest genetic ersity on average. We found that a species's life history (e.g. depth range and herbivory) mediates response of genetic ersity to seascape drivers in logical ways. Furthermore, a metric of combined multi-species AR showed strong coupling to species richness and habitat area, quality and stability that few species showed in idually. We hypothesize that macro-ecological forces and species interactions, by mediating species turnover and occupancy (and thus a site's mean effective population size), influence the aggregate genetic ersity of a site, potentially allowing it to behave as an apparent emergent trait that is shaped by the dominant seascape drivers. The results highlight inherent feedbacks between ecology and genetics, raise concern that genetic resilience of entire reef communities is compromised by factors that reduce coral cover or available habitat, including thermal stress, and provide a foundation for new strategies for monitoring and preserving bio ersity of entire reef ecosystems.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2010
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 22-12-2022
DOI: 10.3897/RIO.8.E98874
Abstract: Truly sustainable development in a human-altered, fragmented marine environment subject to unprecedented climate change, demands informed planning strategies in order to be successful. Beyond a simple understanding of the distribution of marine species, data describing how variations in spatio-temporal dynamics impact ecosystem functioning and the evolution of species are required. Marine Functional Connectivity (MFC) characterizes the flows of matter, genes and energy produced by organism movements and migrations across the seascape. As such, MFC determines the ecological and evolutionary interdependency of populations, and ultimately the fate of species and ecosystems. Gathering effective MFC knowledge can therefore improve predictions of the impacts of environmental change and help to refine management and conservation strategies for the seas and oceans. Gathering these data are challenging however, as access to, and survey of marine ecosystems still presents significant challenge. Over 50 European institutions currently investigate aspects of MFC using complementary methods across multiple research fields, to understand the ecology and evolution of marine species. The aim of SEA-UNICORN, a COST Action supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), is to bring together this research effort, unite the multiple approaches to MFC, and to integrate these under a common conceptual and analytical framework. The consortium brings together a erse group of scientists to collate existing MFC data, to identify knowledge gaps, to enhance complementarity among disciplines, and to devise common approaches to MFC. SEA-UNICORN will promote co-working between connectivity practitioners and ecosystem modelers to facilitate the incorporation of MFC data into the predictive models used to identify marine conservation priorities. Ultimately, SEA-UNICORN will forge strong forward-working links between scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders to facilitate the integration of MFC knowledge into decision support tools for marine management and environmental policies.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-10-2021
Abstract: The deep sea has been described as the last major ecological frontier, as much of its bio ersity is yet to be discovered and described. Beaked whales (ziphiids) are among the most visible inhabitants of the deep sea, due to their large size and worldwide distribution, and their taxonomic ersity and much about their natural history remain poorly understood. We combine genomic and morphometric analyses to reveal a new Southern Hemisphere ziphiid species, Ramari's beaked whale, Mesoplodon eueu , whose name is linked to the Indigenous peoples of the lands from which the species holotype and paratypes were recovered. Mitogenome and ddRAD-derived phylogenies demonstrate reciprocally monophyletic ergence between M. eueu and True's beaked whale ( M. mirus ) from the North Atlantic, with which it was previously subsumed. Morphometric analyses of skulls also distinguish the two species. A time-calibrated mitogenome phylogeny and analysis of two nuclear genomes indicate ergence began circa 2 million years ago (Ma), with geneflow ceasing 0.35–0.55 Ma. This is an ex le of how deep sea bio ersity can be unravelled through increasing international collaboration and genome sequencing of archival specimens. Our consultation and involvement with Indigenous peoples offers a model for broadening the cultural scope of the scientific naming process.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-03-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP21875
Abstract: Scientific Reports 5: Article number: 16182 published online: 09 November 2015 updated: 04 March 2016 This Article contains errors. In the Methods section, “Small s les of skin were collected from southern right whales across New Zealand and Australia using a stainless-steel biopsy dart fired from a modified veterinary capture rifle31 or deployed from a crossbow32.
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 22-02-2022
DOI: 10.3897/RIO.8.E80223
Abstract: Truly sustainable development in a human-altered, fragmented marine environment subject to unprecedented climate change, demands informed planning strategies in order to be successful. Beyond a simple understanding of the distribution of marine species, data describing how variations in spatio-temporal dynamics impact ecosystem functioning and the evolution of species are required. Marine Functional Connectivity (MFC) characterizes the flows of matter, genes and energy produced by organism movements and migrations across the seascape. As such, MFC determines the ecological and evolutionary interdependency of populations, and ultimately the fate of species and ecosystems. Gathering effective MFC knowledge can therefore improve predictions of the impacts of environmental change and help to refine management and conservation strategies for the seas and oceans. Gathering these data are challenging however, as access to, and survey of marine ecosystems still presents significant challenge. Over 50 European institutions currently investigate aspects of MFC using complementary methods across multiple research fields, to understand the ecology and evolution of marine species. The aim of SEA-UNICORN, a COST Action within the European Union Horizon 2020 framework programme, is to bring together this research effort, unite the multiple approaches to MFC, and to integrate these under a common conceptual and analytical framework. The consortium brings together a erse group of scientists to collate existing MFC data, to identify knowledge gaps, to enhance complementarity among disciplines, and to devise common approaches to MFC. SEA-UNICORN will promote co-working between connectivity practitioners and ecosystem modelers to facilitate the incorporation of MFC data into the predictive models used to identify marine conservation priorities. Ultimately, SEA-UNICORN will forge strong forward-working links between scientists, policy-makers and stakeholders to facilitate the integration of MFC knowledge into decision support tools for marine management and environmental policies.
Location: United States of America
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United States of America
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Oscar Gaggiotti.