Marcadores moleculares para o monitoramento do gavião-real (harpia harpyja) na natureza

Abstract

The Harpy Eagle (Harpy harpyja) is a near threatened (NT) species, but is little studied. Capture and marking of individuals of this species is very difficult. One solution that minimizes this difficulty is the use of non-invasive samples such as shed feathers, and molecular markers for the indirect monitoring of individuals and populations. In the present study eight pairs of heterologous microsatellite primers were analyzed in Harpy Eagle individuals. In addition, eleven new microsatellite primer were developed through next-generation sequencing. In some loci of the heterologous primers tested, a considerable decrease of number of tandem repeats of the microsatellite was observed, and thus the use of those loci may underestimate the genetic diversity of the species. Of the eleven new primers developed ten polymorphic loci were used. These new primers were also tested on Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis), where ten primers were successfully amplified, and seven were polymorphic. The primers were subsequently applied in the identification of individuals of Harpy Eagles in the Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve, revealing that the two nests found in the region were used by different adult females.