A phylogeographic framework for the conservation of Saharan and Arabian Dorcas gazelles (Artiodactyla: Bovidae)

Many species of gazelles (Gazella spp.) are nowadays threatened by hunting, poaching, habitat loss and habitat deterioration. Conservation efforts for this group not only face the problem of maintaining remnant populations, but often natural populations have been extirpated from the wild. In some cases, though, captive breeding programs exist that might provide a valuable source for future reintroductions. A major problem in this context is that phylogeographic relationships among different (potentially locally adapted) populations, and even basic phylogenetic relationships between species, are poorly understood, thus hampering the assignment of management units, breeding groups or stocks for reintroduction projects. Our present study focused on Dorcas gazelles (G. dorcas and G. saudiya) from the species’ entire distribution range, with samples originating from western Saharan Africa into Saudi Arabia. In stark contrast to previous studies reporting on pronounced genetic structure in taxa such as Mountain gazelles (G. gazella), we detected low genetic diversity and no evidence for major phylogenetic lineages when analyzing two mitochondrial genetic markers. Using a coalescent approach we infer a steep population decline that started approximately 25,000 years before present and is still ongoing, which coincides with human activities in Saharan Africa. Our phylogenetic analyses, statistical parsimony network analysis and inferred colonization patterns shed doubt on the validity of various described subspecies of G. dorcas.