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Natural and anthropogenic determinants of genetic structure in the largest remaining population of the endangered golden‐brown mouse lemur, Microcebus ravelobensis
Author(s) -
Radespiel Ute,
Rakotondravony Romule,
Chikhi Lounès
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american journal of primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.988
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1098-2345
pISSN - 0275-2565
DOI - 10.1002/ajp.20574
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , ecology , endangered species , biology , gene flow , population , lemur , genetic structure , range (aeronautics) , isolation by distance , geography , genetic variation , habitat , primate , demography , genetics , materials science , sociology , gene , composite material
Genetic differentiation between natural populations is best understood as a result of both natural and anthropogenic factors. Genetic studies on large populations still living under relatively undisturbed conditions are extremely valuable to disentangle these influences. The effect of three natural (geographic distance, landscape, dispersal) factors and two anthropogenic factors (road, savannah) on gene flow was analyzed in the largest remaining forest region in the range of the endangered golden‐brown mouse lemur in Madagascar. A total of 187 individuals from 12 sites were sampled and genotyped at eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. All sites exhibited similar levels of genetic variation. The level of genetic differentiation was low to moderate with pairwise F ST values ranging from −0.002 to 0.12, but most were significant and all sites exhibited high self‐assignment rates. A spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed at two geographic scales revealing a pattern of isolation‐by‐distance and suggesting that no clear differences exist between male and female local dispersal. Two Bayesian approaches revealed that a stretch of savannah represented a significant barrier to movement, whereas the influence of the road on gene flow was less clear. Finally, we found that landscape characteristics, in particular altitude, play a role in the functional connectivity of the sites. The study underlines the importance of studies in relatively undisturbed conditions for the interpretation of population genetics data in fragmented environments. The results are discussed in terms of their conservation relevance for forest‐dwelling animals such as most primate species. Am. J. Primatol. 70:860–870, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.