AI Article Synopsis

  • Anthropogenic changes to the environment can significantly affect the evolution and genetic diversity of species, especially those with specific habitat needs, leading to potential challenges in adaptability.
  • The endangered black-capped vireo experienced major habitat and population losses throughout the 20th century, which resulted in reduced genetic diversity and increased differentiation among remaining populations.
  • Using historical and modern genetic data, the study identified a population bottleneck in the early 20th century and emphasized the importance of genetic monitoring for understanding the long-term impacts of habitat fragmentation on endangered species.

Article Abstract

Anthropogenic alterations in the natural environment can be a potent evolutionary force. For species that have specific habitat requirements, habitat loss can result in substantial genetic effects, potentially impeding future adaptability and evolution. The endangered black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) suffered a substantial contraction of breeding habitat and population size during much of the 20th century. In a previous study, we reported significant differentiation between remnant populations, but failed to recover a strong genetic signal of bottlenecks. In this study, we used a combination of historical and contemporary sampling from Oklahoma and Texas to (i) determine whether population structure and genetic diversity have changed over time and (ii) evaluate alternate demographic hypotheses using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). We found lower genetic diversity and increased differentiation in contemporary samples compared to historical samples, indicating nontrivial impacts of fragmentation. ABC analysis suggests a bottleneck having occurred in the early part of the 20th century, resulting in a magnitude decline in effective population size. Genetic monitoring with temporally spaced samples, such as used in this study, can be highly informative for assessing the genetic impacts of anthropogenic fragmentation on threatened or endangered species, as well as revealing the dynamics of small populations over time.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3461138PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00233.xDOI Listing

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