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Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve
The giant panda is an example of a species that has faced extensive historical habitat fragmentation, and anthropogenic disturbance and is assumed to be isolated in numerous subpopulations with limited gene flow between them. To investigate the population size, health, and connectivity of pandas in...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392360/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30847074 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4869 |
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author | Qiao, Maiju Connor, Thomas Shi, Xiaogang Huang, Jie Huang, Yan Zhang, Hemin Ran, Jianghong |
author_facet | Qiao, Maiju Connor, Thomas Shi, Xiaogang Huang, Jie Huang, Yan Zhang, Hemin Ran, Jianghong |
author_sort | Qiao, Maiju |
collection | PubMed |
description | The giant panda is an example of a species that has faced extensive historical habitat fragmentation, and anthropogenic disturbance and is assumed to be isolated in numerous subpopulations with limited gene flow between them. To investigate the population size, health, and connectivity of pandas in a key habitat area, we noninvasively collected a total of 539 fresh wild giant panda fecal samples for DNA extraction within Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. Seven validated tetra‐microsatellite markers were used to analyze each sample, and a total of 142 unique genotypes were identified. Nonspatial and spatial capture–recapture models estimated the population size of the reserve at 164 and 137 individuals (95% confidence intervals 153–175 and 115–163), respectively. Relatively high levels of genetic variation and low levels of inbreeding were estimated, indicating adequate genetic diversity. Surprisingly, no significant genetic boundaries were found within the population despite the national road G350 that bisects the reserve, which is also bordered with patches of development and agricultural land. We attribute this to high rates of migration, with four giant panda road‐crossing events confirmed within a year based on repeated captures of individuals. This likely means that giant panda populations within mountain ranges are better connected than previously thought. Increased development and tourism traffic in the area and throughout the current panda distribution pose a threat of increasing population isolation, however. Maintaining and restoring adequate habitat corridors for dispersal is thus a vital step for preserving the levels of gene flow seen in our analysis and the continued conservation of the giant panda meta‐population in both Wolong and throughout their current range. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6392360 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63923602019-03-07 Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve Qiao, Maiju Connor, Thomas Shi, Xiaogang Huang, Jie Huang, Yan Zhang, Hemin Ran, Jianghong Ecol Evol Original Research The giant panda is an example of a species that has faced extensive historical habitat fragmentation, and anthropogenic disturbance and is assumed to be isolated in numerous subpopulations with limited gene flow between them. To investigate the population size, health, and connectivity of pandas in a key habitat area, we noninvasively collected a total of 539 fresh wild giant panda fecal samples for DNA extraction within Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China. Seven validated tetra‐microsatellite markers were used to analyze each sample, and a total of 142 unique genotypes were identified. Nonspatial and spatial capture–recapture models estimated the population size of the reserve at 164 and 137 individuals (95% confidence intervals 153–175 and 115–163), respectively. Relatively high levels of genetic variation and low levels of inbreeding were estimated, indicating adequate genetic diversity. Surprisingly, no significant genetic boundaries were found within the population despite the national road G350 that bisects the reserve, which is also bordered with patches of development and agricultural land. We attribute this to high rates of migration, with four giant panda road‐crossing events confirmed within a year based on repeated captures of individuals. This likely means that giant panda populations within mountain ranges are better connected than previously thought. Increased development and tourism traffic in the area and throughout the current panda distribution pose a threat of increasing population isolation, however. Maintaining and restoring adequate habitat corridors for dispersal is thus a vital step for preserving the levels of gene flow seen in our analysis and the continued conservation of the giant panda meta‐population in both Wolong and throughout their current range. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2019-01-28 /pmc/articles/PMC6392360/ /pubmed/30847074 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4869 Text en © 2019 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the 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 Qiao, Maiju Connor, Thomas Shi, Xiaogang Huang, Jie Huang, Yan Zhang, Hemin Ran, Jianghong Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title | Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title_full | Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title_fullStr | Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title_full_unstemmed | Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title_short | Population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
title_sort | population genetics reveals high connectivity of giant panda populations across human disturbance features in key nature reserve |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392360/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30847074 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4869 |
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