Abstract Jaguar population genetics has so far not been investigated on a broad scale in the Amazon rainforest, which constitutes the largest remaining block of continuous habitat for the species. Given its size, it serves not only as a stronghold but also as a reference for jaguar conservation genetics, against which fragmented landscapes can be compared. We assessed genetic diversity and population structure of Amazonian jaguars using 11 microsatellite loci and performed comparative analyses incorporating available data from two other South American biomes (Pantanal and Atlantic Forest) in which the species has faced different amounts of habitat loss and fragmentation. Using the largest genetic data set assembled to date for jaguars (n = 190), we observed that all diversity indices were consistently higher for the Amazonian population, with no genetic subdivision detected in that region, indicating large-scale connectivity across >3000 km. In contrast, we corroborate the inference of anthropic-driven genetic structure and bottlenecks for two Atlantic Forest populations. Our results indicate that the Amazon is a critically important stronghold for jaguars, comprising a highly diverse, panmictic population that allows a glimpse into the patterns of genetic connectivity that characterized this species prior to human intervention. In contrast, the Atlantic Forest populations jointly still retain considerable levels of genetic diversity, but this is currently partitioned among isolated fragments that are increasingly subjected to heavy anthropic disturbance. These results have important implications for jaguar conservation planning, highlighting the critical condition of Atlantic Forest populations and providing a genetic baseline to which they can be compared.

中文翻译：

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对亚马逊美洲虎 (Panthera onca) 遗传多样性和种群连通性的大规模评估为其在破碎景观中的保护和监测提供了基线

摘要 迄今为止，美洲虎种群遗传学尚未在亚马逊热带雨林中进行广泛的调查，亚马逊热带雨林构成了该物种最大的剩余连续栖息地。鉴于它的大小，它不仅是一个据点，而且还是美洲虎保护遗传学的参考，可以比较破碎的景观。我们使用 11 个微卫星位点评估了亚马逊美洲虎的遗传多样性和种群结构，并结合来自其他两个南美生物群落（潘塔纳尔湿地和大西洋森林）的可用数据进行了比较分析，其中该物种面临不同数量的栖息地丧失和破碎。使用迄今为止为美洲虎收集的最大遗传数据集（n = 190），我们观察到亚马逊种群的所有多样性指数始终较高，在该地区未检测到遗传细分，表明超过 3000 公里的大规模连通性。相比之下，我们证实了两个大西洋森林种群的人类驱动遗传结构和瓶颈的推论。我们的研究结果表明，亚马逊是美洲虎至关重要的据点，由高度多样化的泛滥种群组成，可以一瞥人类干预之前表征该物种的遗传连通性模式。相比之下，大西洋森林种群仍共同保留了相当程度的遗传多样性，但目前这些种群被划分为越来越受到严重人为干扰的孤立片段。这些结果对美洲虎保护规划具有重要意义，