Genetic diversity of a short‐ranged endemic terrestrial snail

作者：Lachlan J. Gretgrix, Orsi Decker, Peter T. Green, Frank Köhler, Adnan Moussalli, Nicholas P. Murphy · 发表于：Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/ece3.10785 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Mollusks and Parasites Studies、Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior、Genetic diversity and population structure

Abstract The factors that influence population structure and connectivity are unknown for most terrestrial invertebrates but are of particular interest both for understanding the impacts of disturbance and for determining accurate levels of biodiversity and local endemism. The main objective of this study was to determine the historical patterns of genetic differentiation and contemporary gene flow in the terrestrial snail, Austrochloritis kosciuszkoensis (Shea & O. L. Griffiths, 2010). Snails were collected in the Mt Buffalo and Alpine National Parks in Victoria, in a bid to understand how populations of this species are connected both within continuous habitat and between adjacent, yet separate environments. Utilising both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, the degree of population structure was determined within and between sites. Very high levels of genetic divergence were found between the Mt Buffalo and Alpine snails, with no evidence for genetic exchange detected between the two regions, indicating speciation has possibly occurred between the two regions. Our analyses of the combined mtDNA and nDNA (generated from SNPs) data have revealed patterns of genetic diversity that are consistent with a history of long‐term isolation and limited connectivity. This history may be related to past cycles of changes to the climate over hundreds of thousands of years, which have, in part, caused the fragmentation of Australian forests. Withi...