Cargando…

Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions

The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act, was the subject of an extensive eradication program throughout its range during the 20th century. Eradication campaigns, habitat destruction/fragmentation/conversion, and epizootic outbreak...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Brown, Nathanael L., Peacock, Mary M., Ritchie, Mark E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4729250/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26843928
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1874
_version_ 1782412237919485952
author Brown, Nathanael L.
Peacock, Mary M.
Ritchie, Mark E.
author_facet Brown, Nathanael L.
Peacock, Mary M.
Ritchie, Mark E.
author_sort Brown, Nathanael L.
collection PubMed
description The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act, was the subject of an extensive eradication program throughout its range during the 20th century. Eradication campaigns, habitat destruction/fragmentation/conversion, and epizootic outbreaks (e.g., sylvatic plague) have reduced prairie dog numbers from an estimated 95,000 individuals in the 1920s to approximately 14,000 (estimated adult spring count) today. As a result of these anthropogenic actions, the species is now found in small isolated sets of subpopulations. We characterized the levels of genetic diversity and population genetic structure using 10 neutral nuclear microsatellite loci for twelve populations (native and transplanted) representative of the three management designated “recovery units,” found in three distinct biogeographic regions, sampled across the species' range. The results indicate (1) low levels of genetic diversity within colonies (H (e) = 0.109–0.357; H (o) = 0.106‐ 0.313), (2) high levels of genetic differentiation among colonies (global F (ST) = 0.296), (3) very small genetic effective population sizes, and (4) evidence of genetic bottlenecks. The genetic data reveal additional subdivision such that colonies within recovery units do not form single genotype clusters consistent with recovery unit boundaries. Genotype cluster membership support historical gene flow among colonies in the easternmost West Desert Recovery Unit with the westernmost Pausaugunt colonies and among the eastern Pausaugunt colonies and the Awapa Recovery unit to the north. In order to maintain the long‐term viability of the species, there needs to be an increased focus on maintaining suitable habitat between groups of existing populations that can act as connective corridors. The location of future translocation sites should be located in areas that will maximize connectivity, leading to maintenance of genetic variation and evolutionary potential.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4729250
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2016
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-47292502016-02-03 Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions Brown, Nathanael L. Peacock, Mary M. Ritchie, Mark E. Ecol Evol Original Research The Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act, was the subject of an extensive eradication program throughout its range during the 20th century. Eradication campaigns, habitat destruction/fragmentation/conversion, and epizootic outbreaks (e.g., sylvatic plague) have reduced prairie dog numbers from an estimated 95,000 individuals in the 1920s to approximately 14,000 (estimated adult spring count) today. As a result of these anthropogenic actions, the species is now found in small isolated sets of subpopulations. We characterized the levels of genetic diversity and population genetic structure using 10 neutral nuclear microsatellite loci for twelve populations (native and transplanted) representative of the three management designated “recovery units,” found in three distinct biogeographic regions, sampled across the species' range. The results indicate (1) low levels of genetic diversity within colonies (H (e) = 0.109–0.357; H (o) = 0.106‐ 0.313), (2) high levels of genetic differentiation among colonies (global F (ST) = 0.296), (3) very small genetic effective population sizes, and (4) evidence of genetic bottlenecks. The genetic data reveal additional subdivision such that colonies within recovery units do not form single genotype clusters consistent with recovery unit boundaries. Genotype cluster membership support historical gene flow among colonies in the easternmost West Desert Recovery Unit with the westernmost Pausaugunt colonies and among the eastern Pausaugunt colonies and the Awapa Recovery unit to the north. In order to maintain the long‐term viability of the species, there needs to be an increased focus on maintaining suitable habitat between groups of existing populations that can act as connective corridors. The location of future translocation sites should be located in areas that will maximize connectivity, leading to maintenance of genetic variation and evolutionary potential. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2016-01-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4729250/ /pubmed/26843928 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1874 Text en © 2016 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Brown, Nathanael L.
Peacock, Mary M.
Ritchie, Mark E.
Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title_full Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title_fullStr Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title_full_unstemmed Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title_short Genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the Utah prairie dog Cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
title_sort genetic variation and population structure in a threatened species, the utah prairie dog cynomys parvidens: the use of genetic data to inform conservation actions
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4729250/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26843928
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1874
work_keys_str_mv AT brownnathanaell geneticvariationandpopulationstructureinathreatenedspeciestheutahprairiedogcynomysparvidenstheuseofgeneticdatatoinformconservationactions
AT peacockmarym geneticvariationandpopulationstructureinathreatenedspeciestheutahprairiedogcynomysparvidenstheuseofgeneticdatatoinformconservationactions
AT ritchiemarke geneticvariationandpopulationstructureinathreatenedspeciestheutahprairiedogcynomysparvidenstheuseofgeneticdatatoinformconservationactions