Loading...
Non‐invasive sampling reveals low mitochondrial genetic diversity for an island endemic species: The critically endangered Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi
Peters, Catherine Geary, Matthew Hosie, Charlotte Nelson, Howard Rusk, Bonnie Muir, Anna
Peters, Catherine
Geary, Matthew
Hosie, Charlotte
Nelson, Howard
Rusk, Bonnie
Muir, Anna
Citations
Altmetric:
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
EPub Date
Publication Date
2023-11-23
Submitted Date
Collections
Files
Loading...
Article - VoR
Adobe PDF, 896.44 KB
Other Titles
Abstract
As an island endemic with a decreasing population, the critically endangered Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi is threatened by accelerated loss of genetic diversity resulting from ongoing habitat fragmentation. Small, threatened populations are difficult to sample directly but advances in molecular methods mean that non‐invasive samples can be used. We performed the first assessment of genetic diversity of populations of Grenada Dove by (a) assessing mtDNA genetic diversity in the only two areas of occupancy on Grenada, (b) defining the number of haplotypes present at each site and (c) evaluating evidence of isolation between sites. We used non‐invasively collected samples from two locations: Mt Hartman (n = 18) and Perseverance (n = 12). DNA extraction and PCR were used to amplify 1751 bps of mtDNA from two mitochondrial markers: NADH dehydrogenase 2 (ND2) and Cytochrome b (Cyt b). Haplotype diversity (h) of 0.4, a nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.00023 and two unique haplotypes were identified within the ND2 sequences; a single haplotype was identified within the Cyt b sequences. Of the two haplotypes identified, the most common haplotype (haplotype A = 73.9%) was observed at both sites and the other (haplotype B = 26.1%) was unique to Perseverance. Our results show low mitochondrial genetic diversity and clear evidence for genetically isolated populations. The Grenada Dove needs urgent conservation action, including habitat protection and potentially augmentation of gene flow by translocation in order to increase genetic resilience and diversity with the ultimate aim of securing the long‐term survival of this critically endangered species.
Citation
Peters, C., Geary, M., Hosie, C., Nelson, H., Rusk, B., & Chester, A. M. (2023). Non-invasive sampling reveals low mitochondrial genetic diversity for a Critically Endangered island endemic species. Ecology and Evolution, 13(11), article-number e10767. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10767
Publisher
Wiley Open Access
Journal
Ecology and Evolution
Research Unit
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
Description
Series/Report no.
ISSN
EISSN
2045-7758