Journal ArticleDOI
Genetic effects of habitat contraction on Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) in the Australian Wet Tropics
Jocelyn Bowyer,Graeme Newell +1 more
TLDR
Assessment of genetic diversity in D. lumholtzi suggests the species has relatively low levels of diversity which is uniformly distributed throughout the Atherton Tablelands; a pattern congruent with data from many othervertebrates endemic to the Australian Wet Tropics.Abstract:
Lumholtz’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) is one of two species of tree-kangaroo resident in the tropical rainforests of north-eastern Australia The species is confined to the Wet Tropics region, with its distribution centred on the Atherton Tablelands While D lumholtzi was exposed to periodic large-scale climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary that have effectively acted as natural fragmentation events, the species is currently under pressure from anthropogenic disturbance and habitat fragmentation This study aimed to assess the level of genetic diversity in D lumholtzi by examining hypervariable microsatellite loci and the control region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in 21 individuals from a single 20 ha forest fragment, and from a further 24 animals collected throughout the Atherton Tablelands Results suggest that D lumholtzi has relatively low levels of genetic diversity which is uniformly distributed throughout the Atherton Tablelands; a pattern congruent with data from many other vertebrates endemic to the Australian Wet Tropics It is suggested that Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, which resulted in large-scale rainforest contractions, have imposed an ancient population bottleneck on the ancestral D lumholtzi population The apparent over-riding influence of these natural, historical effects on the genetic structure of D lumholtzi populations, will complicate attempts to assess the genetic impact of current anthropogenic habitat loss and fragmentationread more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Patterns of Genetic Diversity and Its Loss in Mammalian Populations
TL;DR: The results suggest that populations of both rare and common mammals are currently losing genetic diversity and that conservation efforts focused above the population level may fail to protect the breadth of persisting genetic diversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Small population size and extremely low levels of genetic diversity in island populations of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Elise M. Furlan,Jakub Stoklosa,Josh Griffiths,Nick Gust,R Ellis,Richard Huggins,Andrew Weeks +6 more
TL;DR: The genetic diversity within these two island populations of the platypus is assessed and these patterns are contrasted with genetic diversity estimates in areas from which the populations are likely to have been founded and Implications for the future of these and similarly isolated or genetically depauperate populations are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Genetic diversity in remnant mainland and "pristine"’ island populations of three endemic Australian macropodids (Marsupialia): Macropus eugenii, Lagorchestes hirsutus and Petrogale lateralis
Mark D. B. Eldridge,Mark D. B. Eldridge,J. E. Kinnear,Kyall R. Zenger,L.M. McKenzie,Peter S. Spencer +5 more
TL;DR: Assessment of genetic diversity in island and remnant mainland populations of three endemic species of macropodid marsupial shows that island populations appear to retain substantially more genetic diversity than their island counterparts and therefore are more likely to contribute to the long-term persistence of their species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Landscape discontinuities influence gene flow and genetic structure in a large, vagile Australian mammal, Macropus fuliginosus
TL;DR: The results suggest that the biogeography of southern Australia is more complex than previously thought and reveal that seemingly minor landscape features can significantly impact genetic structuring in large vagile mammals.
Journal ArticleDOI
Intraspecific variation, sex-biased dispersal and phylogeography of the eastern grey kangaroo ( Macropus giganteus )
TL;DR: An analysis of mitochondiral DNA and microsatellite data is used to infer both historical and contemporary patterns of population structuring and dispersal in the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) in Australia.
References
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Genetic analysis of a documented population bottleneck: introduced Bennett’s wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) in New Zealand
TL;DR: It is suggested that the founder number was unlikely to have been as small as the three animals suggested by the account of the introduction of the Bennett’s wallaby, and the bottleneck was probably severe; in the range of three to five pairs of wallabies for one to three generations.
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Phylogeographical population structure of tiger quolls Dasyurus maculatus (Dasyuridae: Marsupialia), an endangered carnivorous marsupial
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that Tasmanian tiger quolls are reciprocally monophyletic to those from the mainland using mtDNA analysis, but D.m. m.
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A set of tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) microsatellites tested for genetic linkage.
Andrea Carolyn Taylor,Cooper Dw +1 more
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Molecular population genetics.
Magnus Nordborg,Hideki Innan +1 more
TL;DR: Molecular population genetics is entering a new era dominated by studies of genomic polymorphism, and is becoming increasingly relevant to other fields of biology, for example to genetic epidemiology, because of disease gene mapping in general populations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Genetic effects of forest fragmentation on a rainforest restricted lizard (Scincidae: Gnypetoscincus queenslandiae)
TL;DR: Overall, however, the genetic structure of the populations appears to be dominated by historical (natural) rather than current (anthropogenic) fragmentation and this complicates attempts to assess the effects of the latter.