Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas

C H Frère; G D O'Reilly; K Strickland; A Schultz; K Hohwieler; J Hanger; D de Villiers; R Cristescu; D Powell; W Sherwin

doi:10.1111/mec.16877

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Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas

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Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas

C H Frère, G D O'Reilly, K Strickland, A Schultz, K Hohwieler, J Hanger, D de Villiers, R Cristescu, D Powell and W Sherwin

Molecular Ecology, Vol.32(9), pp.2174-2185

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16877

PMID: 36756702

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Abstract

conservation genetics

habitat degradation

habitat fragmentation

mammals

population genetics - empirical

The genetic consequences of the subdivision of populations are regarded as significant to long term evolution, and research has shown that the scale and speed at which this is now occurring is critically reducing the adaptive potential of most species which inhabit human impacted landscapes. Here, we provide a rare, and to our knowledge, the first analysis of this process while it is happening and demonstrate a method of evaluating the effect of mitigation measures such as fauna crossings. We did this by using an extensive genetic dataset collected from a koala population which was intensely monitored during the construction of linear transport infrastructure which resulted in the subdivision of their population. First, we found that both allelic richness and effective population size decreased through the process of population subdivision. Second, we predicted the extent to which genetic drift could impact genetic diversity over time and showed that after only 10 generations the resulting two subdivided populations could experience between 12-69% loss in genetic diversity. Lastly, using forward simulations we estimated that a minimum of 8 koalas would need to disperse from each side of the subdivision per generation to maintain genetic connectivity close to zero but that 16 koalas would ensure that both genetic connectivity and diversity remained unchanged. These results have important consequences for the genetic management of species in human impacted landscapes by showing which genetic metrics are best to identify immediate loss in genetic diversity and how to evaluate the effectiveness of any mitigation measures.

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Title: Evaluating the genetic consequences of population subdivision as it unfolds and how to best mitigate them: a rare story about koalas
Authors: C H Frère (Corresponding Author) - The University of Queensland
G D O'Reilly (Author) - The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
K Strickland (Author) - University of Edinburgh
A Schultz (Author) - Icelandic Museum of Natural History (Reykjavik, Iceland)
K Hohwieler (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
J Hanger (Author) - Endeavour Veterinary Ecology Pty Ltd
D de Villiers (Author) - Endeavour Veterinary Ecology Pty Ltd
R Cristescu (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
D Powell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
W Sherwin (Author) - The School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Publication details: Molecular Ecology, Vol.32(9), pp.2174-2185
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2023
DOI: 10.1111/mec.16877
ISSN: 1365-294X; 0962-1083
PMID: 36756702
Copyright note: © 2023 The Authors. Molecular Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Grant note: Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Office of Research; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99706997702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Ecology; Evolutionary Biology