Habitat fragmentation affects genetic diversity and differentiation of the Yarkand hare |
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Authors: | Yonghua Wu Lin Xia Qian Zhang Qisen Yang |
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Institution: | (1) Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road, Chaoyang, Beijing, 100101, China; |
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Abstract: | The Yarkand hare, Lepus yarkandensis, is an endemic, endangered species restricted to the Tarim Basin of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The Yarkand
hare is distributed in scattered oases which are physically isolated by the desert. Its natural fragmentation habitat makes
it an ideal object for studying effect of habitat fragmentation on its genetic structure. To evaluate the effects of habitat
fragmentation on genetic diversity of the species, we assessed genetic diversity for 20 sampling populations based on control
region and Cytb markers. Relatively low levels of gene diversity are found in most of isolated populations in the southern
margin of the Taklamakan Desert. Furthermore, a positive correlation is found between gene diversity and the size of historical
effective population. Significant genetic differentiation is detected among most populations by pairwise FST analyses, which is characterized by an isolation by distance pattern. Additionally, the AMOVA results show highly significant
population structure among seven geographical groups. High migration rates are found among continuous populations, while very
low levels of migration rates are found among the relatively isolated populations, suggesting that the desert may make an
effective barrier against gene flow. Finally, the control region shows four clades by the phylogenetic analyses, three of
which are present in nearly all sampling populations. The observed pattern of the lineage mixing, also shown by the Cytb data,
may be caused by extensive gene flow among populations, and could be explained by possible demographical expansion of the
Yarkand hare during the late Pleistocene interglacial period. |
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