Table 5. Hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) in Mesoamerican jaguars.
| Source of variation | d.f. | SS | VC | % Variance | Φ | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Among historically defined subspecies | 2 | 12.13 | 0.11 | 15.83 | 0.16 | 0.001 |
| Among sampling sites within hist. defined subspecies | 96 | 65.13 | 0.09 | 12.49 | 0.15 | 0.001 | |
| Among individuals within sampling sites | 99 | 49.81 | 0.50 | 71.68 | 0.28 | 0.001 | |
| Total | 197 | 127.08 | 0.70 | 100.00 | |||
| B | Among JCUs | 6 | 16.17 | 0.08 | 12.38 | 0.12 | 0.001 |
| Among sampling sites within JCUs | 92 | 61.09 | 0.08 | 12.07 | 0.14 | 0.002 | |
| Among individuals within sampling sites | 99 | 49.81 | 0.50 | 75.54 | 0.24 | 0.001 | |
| Total | 197 | 127.08 | 0.67 | 100.00 | |||
| C | Among genetic clusters | 3 | 14.22 | 0.12 | 16.96 | 0.17 | 0.001 |
| Among sampling sites within genetic clusters | 95 | 63.05 | 0.08 | 11.42 | 0.14 | 0.002 | |
| Among individuals within sampling sites | 99 | 49.81 | 0.50 | 71.62 | 0.28 | 0.001 | |
| Total | 197 | 127.08 | 0.70 | 100.00 |
The analysis was based on 115 jaguar individuals detected at several sampling sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica and genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci. Different hypotheses for hierarchical genetic subdivision: historically defined subspecies for Mesoamerican jaguars (scenario A: Panthera o. hernandesii, Panthera o. veraecrucis, Panthera o. goldmani, Panthera o. centralis; due to low sample sizes Panthera o. hernandesii and Panthera o. veraecrucis were defined as one group), Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs) included in this study [21] (scenario B: JCU 2 –Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico; JCU 5 –Istmo de Tehuantepec, Mexico; JCU 8 –Selva Maya, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; JCU 14 –west-central Belize; JCU 19 –Corazón Biosphere, Honduras; JCU 20 –Río Indio Maíz, Costa Rica; JCU 21 –northwestern Costa Rica; JCU 25 –Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica), and genetic clusters identified with STRUCTURE, version 2.3.4 [47] (scenario C: cluster 1—Mexico, cluster 2 –Guatemala and Belize, cluster 3 –Honduras, cluster 4—Costa Rica) were tested. d.f., degrees of freedom; SS, sum of squares; VC, variance components; % Variance, proportion of variance attributed to the different levels in spatial hierarchy of Mesoamerican jaguars; Φ, Phi statistics analogous to Wright’s F-statistics; P, P values based on 1,000 permutations.