Reversing the decline of threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in New South Wales: Using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes

Matthew J. Lott; Greta J. Frankham; Mark D.B. Eldridge; David E. Alquezar-Planas; Lily Donnelly; Kyall R. Zenger; Kellie A. Leigh; Shannon R. Kjeldsen; Matt A. Field; John Lemon; Daniel Lunney; Mathew S. Crowther; Mark Krockenberger; Mark Fisher; Linda Neaves

doi:10.1002/ece3.11700

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Reversing the decline of threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in New South Wales: Using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Reversing the decline of threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in New South Wales: Using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes

Matthew J. Lott, Greta J. Frankham, Mark D.B. Eldridge, David E. Alquezar-Planas, Lily Donnelly, Kyall R. Zenger, Kellie A. Leigh, Shannon R. Kjeldsen, Matt A. Field, John Lemon, …

Ecology and evolution, Vol.14(8), e11700

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11700

PMID: 39091325

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Abstract

Ecology

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Evolutionary Biology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Science & Technology

Genomics

Conservation and biodiversity

Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments

Genetic management is a critical component of threatened species conservation. Understanding spatial patterns of genetic diversity is essential for evaluating the resilience of fragmented populations to accelerating anthropogenic threats. Nowhere is this more relevant than on the Australian continent, which is experiencing an ongoing loss of biodiversity that exceeds any other developed nation. Using a proprietary genome complexity reduction-based method (DArTSeq), we generated a data set of 3239 high quality Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) to investigate spatial patterns and indices of genetic diversity in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), a highly specialised folivorous marsupial that is experiencing rapid and widespread population declines across much of its former range. Our findings demonstrate that current management divisions across the state of New South Wales (NSW) do not fully represent the distribution of genetic diversity among extant koala populations, and that care must be taken to ensure that translocation paradigms based on these frameworks do not inadvertently restrict gene flow between populations and regions that were historically interconnected. We also recommend that koala populations should be prioritised for conservation action based on the scale and severity of the threatening processes that they are currently faced with, rather than placing too much emphasis on their perceived value (e.g., as reservoirs of potentially adaptive alleles), as our data indicate that existing genetic variation in koalas is primarily partitioned among individual animals. As such, the extirpation of koalas from any part of their range represents a potentially critical reduction of genetic diversity for this iconic Australian species.

Details

Title: Reversing the decline of threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in New South Wales: Using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes
Authors/Creators: Matthew J. Lott (Author) - Australian Museum
Greta J. Frankham (Author) - Australian Museum
Mark D.B. Eldridge (Author) - Australian Museum
David E. Alquezar-Planas (Author) - Australian Museum
Lily Donnelly (Author) - James Cook University
Kyall R. Zenger (Author) - James Cook University
Kellie A. Leigh (Author) - Sci Wildlife Ltd, Mt Victoria, NSW, Australia
Shannon R. Kjeldsen (Author) - James Cook University
Matt A. Field (Author) - James Cook University
John Lemon (Author) - Poultry CRC
Daniel Lunney (Author) - Australian Museum
Mathew S. Crowther (Author) - The University of Sydney
Mark Krockenberger (Author) - The University of Sydney
Mark Fisher (Author) - 3D Ecol Mapping, Emerald Beach, NSW, Australia
Linda Neaves (Author) - Australian National University
Publication Details: Ecology and evolution, Vol.14(8), e11700
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Number of pages: 18
Identifiers: 991005786383307891
Murdoch Affiliation: Murdoch University
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.64 Phylogenetics & Genomics; 3.64.71 Genetic Diversity
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology; Evolutionary Biology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology