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Journal of Heredity Advance Access published online on May 13, 2008
Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esn028
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© The American Genetic Association. 2008. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Population Genetic Structure of Savannah Elephants in Kenya: Conservation and Management Implications

John B. A. Okello, Charles Masembe, Henrik B. Rasmussen, George Wittemyer, Patrick Omondi, Onesmas Kahindi, Vincent B. Muwanika, Peter Arctander, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Silvester Nyakaana, and Hans R. Siegismund

From the Molecular Biology Laboratory, Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, PO Box 7298, Kampala, Uganda (Okello, Masembe, Muwanika, and Nyakaana); the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L9, Canada (Okello); Save the Elephants PO Box 54667, Nairobi, Kenya (Rasmussen, Wittemyer, Kahindi, and Douglas-Hamilton); the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark (Rasmussen, Arctander, and Siegismund); the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, 201 Wellman Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3112 (Wittemyer); and the Kenya Wildlife Service, PO Box 40241, Nairobi 00200, Kenya (Omondi)

Address correspondence to John B. A. Okello at the address above, or e-mail: jokello{at}mcmaster.ca

We investigated population genetic structure and regional differentiation among African savannah elephants in Kenya using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. We observed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) nucleotide diversity of 1.68% and microsatellite variation in terms of average number of alleles, expected and observed heterozygosities in the total study population of 10.20, 0.75, and 0.69, respectively. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance of mtDNA variation revealed significant differentiation among the 3 geographical regions studied (FCT = 0.264; P < 0.05) and a relatively lower differentiation among populations within regions (FSC = 0.218; P < 0.0001). Microsatellite variation significantly differentiated among populations within regions (FSC = 0.019; P < 0.0001) but not at the regional levels (FCT = 0.000; P > 0.500). We attribute the high differentiation at the mitochondrial genome to the matrilineal social structure of elephant populations, female natal philopatry, and probably ancient vicariance. Lack of significant regional differentiation at the nuclear loci vis-a-vis strong differences at mtDNA loci between regions is likely the effect of subsequent homogenization through male-mediated gene flow. Our results depicting 3 broad regional mtDNA groups and the observed population genetic differentiation as well as connectivity patterns should be incorporated in the planning of future management activities such as translocations.

Corresponding Editor: Warren Johnson

Received October 11, 2007
Accepted February 27, 2008


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