The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline

Abstract Genetic diversity is the raw foundation for evolutionary potential. When genetic diversity is significantly reduced, the risk of extinction is heightened considerably. The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is one of two seahorse species occurring in the North-East Atlantic. The...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Rupert Stacy, Jorge Palma, Miguel Correia, Anthony B. Wilson, José Pedro Andrade, Rita Castilho
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/6fbf27869f3342859f4d816d30230078
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:6fbf27869f3342859f4d816d30230078
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:6fbf27869f3342859f4d816d302300782021-12-02T16:49:46ZThe paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline10.1038/s41598-021-89708-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/6fbf27869f3342859f4d816d302300782021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89708-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Genetic diversity is the raw foundation for evolutionary potential. When genetic diversity is significantly reduced, the risk of extinction is heightened considerably. The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is one of two seahorse species occurring in the North-East Atlantic. The population living in the Ria Formosa (South Portugal) declined dramatically between 2001 and 2008, prompting fears of greatly reduced genetic diversity and reduced effective population size, hallmarks of a genetic bottleneck. This study tests these hypotheses using samples from eight microsatellite loci taken from 2001 and 2013, on either side of the 2008 decline. The data suggest that the population has not lost its genetic diversity, and a genetic bottleneck was not detectable. However, overall relatedness increased between 2001 to 2013, leading to questions of future inbreeding. The effective population size has seemingly increased close to the threshold necessary for the population to retain its evolutionary potential, but whether these results have been affected by sample size is not clear. Several explanations are discussed for these unexpected results, such as gene flow, local decline due to dispersal to other areas of the Ria Formosa, and the potential that the duration of the demographic decline too short to record changes in the genetic diversity. Given the results presented here and recent evidence of a second population decline, the precise estimation of both gene flow and effective population size via more extensive genetic screening will be critical to effective population management.Rupert StacyJorge PalmaMiguel CorreiaAnthony B. WilsonJosé Pedro AndradeRita CastilhoNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Rupert Stacy Jorge Palma Miguel Correia Anthony B. Wilson José Pedro Andrade Rita Castilho The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
description	Abstract Genetic diversity is the raw foundation for evolutionary potential. When genetic diversity is significantly reduced, the risk of extinction is heightened considerably. The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is one of two seahorse species occurring in the North-East Atlantic. The population living in the Ria Formosa (South Portugal) declined dramatically between 2001 and 2008, prompting fears of greatly reduced genetic diversity and reduced effective population size, hallmarks of a genetic bottleneck. This study tests these hypotheses using samples from eight microsatellite loci taken from 2001 and 2013, on either side of the 2008 decline. The data suggest that the population has not lost its genetic diversity, and a genetic bottleneck was not detectable. However, overall relatedness increased between 2001 to 2013, leading to questions of future inbreeding. The effective population size has seemingly increased close to the threshold necessary for the population to retain its evolutionary potential, but whether these results have been affected by sample size is not clear. Several explanations are discussed for these unexpected results, such as gene flow, local decline due to dispersal to other areas of the Ria Formosa, and the potential that the duration of the demographic decline too short to record changes in the genetic diversity. Given the results presented here and recent evidence of a second population decline, the precise estimation of both gene flow and effective population size via more extensive genetic screening will be critical to effective population management.
format	article
author	Rupert Stacy Jorge Palma Miguel Correia Anthony B. Wilson José Pedro Andrade Rita Castilho
author_facet	Rupert Stacy Jorge Palma Miguel Correia Anthony B. Wilson José Pedro Andrade Rita Castilho
author_sort	Rupert Stacy
title	The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
title_short	The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
title_full	The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
title_fullStr	The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
title_full_unstemmed	The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
title_sort	paradox of retained genetic diversity of hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/6fbf27869f3342859f4d816d30230078
work_keys_str_mv	AT rupertstacy theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT jorgepalma theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT miguelcorreia theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT anthonybwilson theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT josepedroandrade theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT ritacastilho theparadoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT rupertstacy paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT jorgepalma paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT miguelcorreia paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT anthonybwilson paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT josepedroandrade paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline AT ritacastilho paradoxofretainedgeneticdiversityofhippocampusguttulatusinthefaceofdemographicdecline
_version_	1718383221424521216

The paradox of retained genetic diversity of Hippocampus guttulatus in the face of demographic decline

Ejemplares similares