scholarly journals Evolutionary stability, landscape heterogeneity, and human land‐usage shape population genetic connectivity in the Cape Floristic Region biodiversity hotspot

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica E. Tassone ◽  
Lindsay S. Miles ◽  
Rodney J. Dyer ◽  
Michael S. Rosenberg ◽  
Richard M. Cowling ◽  
...  
PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e6139 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Simaika ◽  
Michael Samways ◽  
Sven M. Vrdoljak

Congruence between plant and insect diversity is considered possibly useful in conservation planning, as the better known plants could be surrogates for the lesser known insects. There has been little quantification of congruence across space, especially in biodiversity rich areas. We compare here species richness, and turnover relationships between plants and flower-visiting insects across space (0.5–80 km) in natural areas of a biodiversity hotspot, the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. A total of 22,352 anthophile individuals in 198 species and 348 plant species were sampled. A comparison between the plants and anthophiles suggest significant concordance between the two assemblages. However, turnover was weaker in plants than in anthophiles. Plant turnover decreased with greater geographical distance between plot pairs. In contrast, insect turnover remained high with increasing geographical distance between plot pairs. These findings suggest that while patterns of plant diversity and distribution shape flower-visiting insect assemblages, they are not reliable surrogates. The conservation significance of these results is that specialist mutualisms are at greatest risk, and that set-asides on farms would help improve the functional connectivity leading to the maintenance of the full range of mutualisms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 766-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Buonomo ◽  
Jorge Assis ◽  
Francisco Fernandes ◽  
Aschwin H. Engelen ◽  
Laura Airoldi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis B. Sturm ◽  
Ryan J. Eckert ◽  
Juliett González Méndez ◽  
Patricia González-Díaz ◽  
Joshua D. Voss

Abstract Coral reef habitats surrounding Cuba include relatively healthy, well-developed shallow and mesophotic (30–150 m) scleractinian communities at the cross-currents of the Tropical Western Atlantic (TWA). However, Cuba’s coral communities are not immune to the declines observed throughout the TWA, and there is limited information available regarding genetic connectivity, diversity, and structure among these populations. This represents an immense gap in our understanding of coral ecology and population dynamics at both local and regional scales. To address this gap, we evaluated the population genetic structure of the coral Montastraea cavernosa across eight reef sites surrounding Cuba. Colonies were genotyped using nine microsatellite markers and > 9,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers generated using the 2bRAD approach to assess fine-scale genetic structure across these sites. Both the microsatellite and SNP analyses identified patterns of genetic differentiation among sample populations. While the microsatellite analyses did not identify significant genetic structure across the seven shallow M. cavernosa sampling sites, the SNP analyses revealed significant pairwise population differentiation, suggesting that differentiation is greater between eastern and western sites. This study provides insight into methodological differences between microsatellite and SNP markers including potential trade-offs between marker-specific biases, sample size, sequencing costs, and the ability to resolve subtle patterns of population genetic structure. Furthermore, this study suggests that locations in western Cuba may play important roles in this species’ regional metapopulation dynamics and therefore may merit incorporation into developing international management efforts in addition to the local management the sites receive.


2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (21) ◽  
pp. 4765-4782 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL D. RYMER ◽  
JOHN C. MANNING ◽  
PETER GOLDBLATT ◽  
MARTYN P. POWELL ◽  
VINCENT SAVOLAINEN

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Clare Louise Gebbie

<p>Parapercis colias (blue cod) is an endemic temperate reef fish that supports an important commercial and recreational fishery in New Zealand. However, concerns have been raised about localized stock depletion, and multiple lines of evidence have suggested P. colias may form several biologically distinct populations within the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone. Mark and recapture studies along with otolith and stable isotope studies have indicated that individuals are sedentary with very limited movement beyond the scale of 10-20km. The primary goal of this research was to advance the current knowledge of P. colias population genetic structure. This information can be incorporated into stock assessment models with the aim of improving the management of the P. colias fishery. This study made use of 454 pyrosequencing technology to isolate and develop the first set of microsatellite DNA markers for P. colias. These seven microsatellite loci, along with mitochondrial control region sequences, were used to determine the levels of genetic variation and differentiation between sites around the New Zealand coastline, including the Chatham Islands.  Significant differentiation was observed between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand sample sites, indicating that these two regions form distinct populations. Interpretation of the results for the mainland sites was more complex. Mitochondrial sequence data detected no significant pairwise differentiation between mainland sites, although a pattern of isolation-by-distance was observed. However, evidence for genetic differentiation among mainland sites was weak based on the microsatellite DNA analysis. Although pairwise Gѕт levels were significant in some sites, this was not reflected in principal component analysis or Bayesian structure analysis. It is likely that through long range dispersal, migration is at or above the threshold for genetic connectivity, but below a level necessary for demographic connectivity. This is indicated by both the genetic structure reported here, along with previous studies showing limited dispersal of P. colias.</p>


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