The use of molecular tools in ecological studies of mammalian carnivores

Abstract

The use of molecular techniques has been recently incorporated to study the ecology, behavior, and conservation/management of mammalian carnivores, appearing the first paper published only by 1989. The possibility of using non-invasive samples is what increased the use of these techniques. Most of the studies published that use these techniques with mammalian carnivores were conducted during the last 5 years. There are many different molecular techniques available, but not all of them have been commonly used due to the quality of the DNA, which may be degraded and in low quantity in some types of samples such as feces and hairs. The techniques more often used or with a higher future projection are sequencing, PCR, and microsatellites. In most occasions, these techniques have been used to identify species, gender, and individuals, but topics such as landscape ecology, species interactions, foraging ecology, metapopulation dynamics, and conservation medicine might benefit in the near future.