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An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss

Conservation research is dominated by vertebrate examples but the shorter generation times and high local population sizes of invertebrates may lead to very different management strategies, particularly for species with low movement rates. Here we investigate the genetic structure of an endangered f...

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Autores principales: Hoffmann, Ary A., White, Vanessa L., Jasper, Moshe, Yagui, Hiromi, Sinclair, Steve J., Kearney, Michael R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8131777/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34026013
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7428
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author Hoffmann, Ary A.
White, Vanessa L.
Jasper, Moshe
Yagui, Hiromi
Sinclair, Steve J.
Kearney, Michael R.
author_facet Hoffmann, Ary A.
White, Vanessa L.
Jasper, Moshe
Yagui, Hiromi
Sinclair, Steve J.
Kearney, Michael R.
author_sort Hoffmann, Ary A.
collection PubMed
description Conservation research is dominated by vertebrate examples but the shorter generation times and high local population sizes of invertebrates may lead to very different management strategies, particularly for species with low movement rates. Here we investigate the genetic structure of an endangered flightless grasshopper, Keyacris scurra, which was used in classical evolutionary studies in the 1960s. It had a wide distribution across New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria in pre‐European times but has now become threatened because of land clearing for agriculture and other activities. We revisited remnant sites of K. scurra, with populations now restricted to only one area in Victoria and a few small patches in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Using DArtseq to generate SNP markers as well as mtDNA sequence data, we show that the remaining Victorian populations in an isolated valley are genetically distinct from the NSW populations and that all populations tend to be genetically unique, with large F (ST) values up to 0.8 being detected for the SNP datasets. We also find that, with one notable exception, the NSW/ACT populations separate genetically into previously described chromosomal races (2n = 15 vs. 2n = 17). Isolation by distance was detected across both the SNP and mtDNA datasets, and there was substantial differentiation within chromosomal races. Genetic diversity as measured by heterozygosity was not correlated with the size of remaining habitat where the populations were found, with high variation present in some remnant cemetery sites. However, inbreeding correlated negatively with estimated habitat size at 25–500 m patch radius. These findings emphasize the importance of small habitat areas in conserving genetic variation in such species with low mobility, and they highlight populations suitable for future translocation efforts.
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spelling pubmed-81317772021-05-21 An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss Hoffmann, Ary A. White, Vanessa L. Jasper, Moshe Yagui, Hiromi Sinclair, Steve J. Kearney, Michael R. Ecol Evol Original Research Conservation research is dominated by vertebrate examples but the shorter generation times and high local population sizes of invertebrates may lead to very different management strategies, particularly for species with low movement rates. Here we investigate the genetic structure of an endangered flightless grasshopper, Keyacris scurra, which was used in classical evolutionary studies in the 1960s. It had a wide distribution across New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria in pre‐European times but has now become threatened because of land clearing for agriculture and other activities. We revisited remnant sites of K. scurra, with populations now restricted to only one area in Victoria and a few small patches in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Using DArtseq to generate SNP markers as well as mtDNA sequence data, we show that the remaining Victorian populations in an isolated valley are genetically distinct from the NSW populations and that all populations tend to be genetically unique, with large F (ST) values up to 0.8 being detected for the SNP datasets. We also find that, with one notable exception, the NSW/ACT populations separate genetically into previously described chromosomal races (2n = 15 vs. 2n = 17). Isolation by distance was detected across both the SNP and mtDNA datasets, and there was substantial differentiation within chromosomal races. Genetic diversity as measured by heterozygosity was not correlated with the size of remaining habitat where the populations were found, with high variation present in some remnant cemetery sites. However, inbreeding correlated negatively with estimated habitat size at 25–500 m patch radius. These findings emphasize the importance of small habitat areas in conserving genetic variation in such species with low mobility, and they highlight populations suitable for future translocation efforts. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-04-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8131777/ /pubmed/34026013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7428 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://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
Hoffmann, Ary A.
White, Vanessa L.
Jasper, Moshe
Yagui, Hiromi
Sinclair, Steve J.
Kearney, Michael R.
An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title_full An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title_fullStr An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title_full_unstemmed An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title_short An endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
title_sort endangered flightless grasshopper with strong genetic structure maintains population genetic variation despite extensive habitat loss
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8131777/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34026013
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7428
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