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Journal article
Reversing the decline of threatened koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in New South Wales: Using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes
Ecology and evolution, Vol.14(8), e11700
2024
PMID: 39091325
Abstract
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 MuseumGreta J. Frankham (Author) - Australian MuseumMark D.B. Eldridge (Author) - Australian MuseumDavid E. Alquezar-Planas (Author) - Australian MuseumLily Donnelly (Author) - James Cook UniversityKyall R. Zenger (Author) - James Cook UniversityKellie A. Leigh (Author) - Sci Wildlife Ltd, Mt Victoria, NSW, AustraliaShannon R. Kjeldsen (Author) - James Cook UniversityMatt A. Field (Author) - James Cook UniversityJohn Lemon (Author) - Poultry CRCDaniel Lunney (Author) - Australian MuseumMathew S. Crowther (Author) - The University of SydneyMark Krockenberger (Author) - The University of SydneyMark Fisher (Author) - 3D Ecol Mapping, Emerald Beach, NSW, AustraliaLinda 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
- Copyright
- © 2024 The Author(s).
- 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