A meta-analysis of the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic diversity in mammals

Lino, Ana; Fonseca, Carlos; Rojas, Danny; Fischer, Erich Arnold; Pereira, María João Ramos

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2018.09.006

Cited by 119 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Habitat area is a key determinant for population sustenance (Gibbs, ; Lino, Fonseca, Rojas, Fischer, & Ramos Pereira, ) and maintaining viable (i.e., genetically diverse, noninbred) populations (Frankham, , ). Multiple studies have shown that island species have less genetic diversity and increased inbreeding compared to their mainland counterparts (Brüniche‐Olsen, Jones, et al, ; Eldridge et al, ; Frankham, ; Palkopoulou et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island area, body size and demographic history shape genomic diversity in Darwin's finches and related tanagers

2019

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Genomic diversity is the evolutionary foundation for adaptation to environmental change and thus is essential to consider in conservation planning. Island species are ideal for investigating the evolutionary drivers of genomic diversity, in part because of the potential for biological replicates. Here, we use genome data from 180 individuals spread among 27 island populations from 17 avian species to study the effects of island area, body size, demographic history and conservation status on contemporary genomic diversity. Our study expands earlier work on a small number of neutral loci to the entire genome and from a few species to many. We find significant positive correlation between island size and genomic diversity, a significant negative correlation between body size and genomic diversity, and that historical population declines significantly reduced contemporary genomic diversity. Our study shows that island size is the key factor in determining genomic diversity, indicating that habitat conservation is key to maintaining adaptive potential in the face of global environmental change. We found that threatened species generally had a significantly smaller values of Watterson's theta (θW = 4Neμ) compared to nonthreatened species, suggesting that θW may be useful as a conservation indicator for at‐risk species. Overall, these findings (a) provide biological insights into how genomic diversity scales with ecological, morphological and demographic factors; and (b) illustrate how population genomic data can be leveraged to better inform conservation efforts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island area, body size and demographic history shape genomic diversity in Darwin's finches and related tanagers

2019

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“…Thus, our results suggest that weakening intraspecific competition (and potentially increasing facilitation) may be a mechanism by which communities maintain intraspecific diversity through time, at least in communities dominated by foundation species (Reynolds et al, 2017). In addition, if the worldwide decline in genetic diversity continues (Lino et al, 2019;Pauls et al, 2013), our results suggest that intraspecific competition may increase, reducing genotype coexistence and further exacerbating the erosion of diversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…A better understanding of how intraspecific diversity affects competition within and among species could elucidate its impacts on species coexistence and community stability. Because intraspecific diversity is predicted to decrease with both global change and shrinking habitats (Lino, Fonseca, Rojas, Fischer, & Ramos Pereira, 2019;Pauls, Nowak, Bálint, & Pfenninger, 2013), understanding its impacts is also relevant to predicting future changes in communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genotypic diversity weakens competition within, but not between, plant species

Noto

Hughes

2020

Journal of Ecology

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“…Even though the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic diversity have been reviewed extensively (Aguilar et al, 2006(Aguilar et al, , 2008Keyghobadi, 2007;Vranckx et al, 2012;Lino et al, 2018;Schlaepfer et al, 2018), there is an important knowledge gap regarding general landscape effects on gene flow (DiLeo & Wagner, 2016). By influencing the willingness of an organism to cross a particular environment and the physiological or fitness costs of moving through it, the resistance imposed by landscape structure on the dispersal of organisms can ultimately affect genetic differentiation and patterns of gene flow (Zeller, McGarigal & Whiteley, 2012;Balkenhol et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Everything you always wanted to know about gene flow in tropical landscapes (but were afraid to ask) (v0.2)"

2019

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The bulk of the world's biodiversity is found in tropical regions, which are increasingly threatened by the human-led degradation of natural habitats. Yet, little is known about tropical biodiversity responses to habitat loss and fragmentation. Here we review all available literature assessing landscape effects on gene flow in tropical species, aiming to help unravel the factors underpinning functional connectivity in the tropics. We map and classify studies by focus species, the molecular markers employed, statistical approaches to assess landscape effects on gene flow, and the evaluated landscape and environmental variables. We then compare qualitatively and quantitatively landscape effects on gene flow across species and units of analysis. We found 69 articles assessing landscape effects on gene flow in tropical organisms, most of which were published in the last five years, were concentrated in the Americas, and focused on amphibians or mammals. Most studies employed population-level approaches, microsatellites were the preferred type of markers, and Mantel and partial Mantel tests the most common statistical approaches used. While elevation, land cover and forest cover were the most common gene flow predictors assessed, habitat suitability was found to be a common predictor of gene flow. A third of all surveyed studies explicitly assessed the effect of habitat degradation, but only 14 of these detected a reduced gene flow with increasing habitat loss. Elevation was responsible for most significant microsatellite-based IBR effects and a single study reported significant isolation by non-forested areas in an ant. Our study reveals important knowledge gaps on the study of landscape effects on gene flow in tropical organisms, and provides useful guidelines on how to fill them.PeerJ reviewing PDF |

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A meta-analysis of the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on genetic diversity in mammals

Cited by 119 publications

References 49 publications

Island area, body size and demographic history shape genomic diversity in Darwin's finches and related tanagers

Island area, body size and demographic history shape genomic diversity in Darwin's finches and related tanagers

Genotypic diversity weakens competition within, but not between, plant species

Peer Review #1 of "Everything you always wanted to know about gene flow in tropical landscapes (but were afraid to ask) (v0.2)"

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