Journal article
Conservation genetics of extremely isolated urban populations of the northern dusky salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) in New York City
PeerJ (San Francisco, CA), v 1(1), pp e64-e64
09 Apr 2013
PMID: 23646283
Abstract
Urbanization is a major cause of amphibian decline. Stream-dwelling plethodontid salamanders are particularly susceptible to urbanization due to declining water quality and hydrological changes, but few studies have examined these taxa in cities. The northern dusky salamander (
Desmognathus fuscus
) was once common in the New York City metropolitan area, but has substantially declined throughout the region in recent decades. We used five tetranucleotide microsatellite loci to examine population differentiation, genetic variation, and bottlenecks among five remnant urban populations of dusky salamanders in NYC. These genetic measures provide information on isolation, prevalence of inbreeding, long-term prospects for population persistence, and potential for evolutionary responses to future environmental change. All populations were genetically differentiated from each other, and the most isolated populations in Manhattan have maintained very little genetic variation (i.e. <20% heterozygosity). A majority of the populations also exhibited evidence of genetic bottlenecks. These findings contrast with published estimates of high genetic variation within and lack of structure between populations of other desmognathine salamanders sampled over similar or larger spatial scales. Declines in genetic variation likely resulted from population extirpations and the degradation of stream and terrestrial paths for dispersal in NYC. Loss of genetic variability in populations isolated by human development may be an underappreciated cause and/or consequence of the decline of this species in urbanized areas of the northeast USA.
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Details
- Title
- Conservation genetics of extremely isolated urban populations of the northern dusky salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) in New York City
- Creators
- Jason Munshi-South - Department of Natural Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY) Program in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology & Behavior, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkYana Zak - Baruch CollegeEllen Pehek - New York City Police Department
- Publication Details
- PeerJ (San Francisco, CA), v 1(1), pp e64-e64
- Publisher
- PeerJ Inc
- Grant note
- DEB-0817259 / National Science Foundation
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000209186300003
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84877124675
- Other Identifier
- 991021903865604721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Ecology