Ecology

Research Reports from University of Plymouth Provide New Insights into Molecular Ecology

  2012 AUG 24 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Ecology, Environment & Conservation -- Fresh data on Molecular Ecology are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Plymouth, United Kingdom, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Dramatic local population decline brought about by anthropogenic-driven change is an increasingly common threat to biodiversity. Seabird life history traits make them particularly vulnerable to such change; therefore, understanding population connectivity and dispersal dynamics is vital for successful management."

  The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Plymouth, "Our study used a 357-base pair mitochondrial control region locus sequenced for 103 individuals and 18 nuclear microsatellite loci genotyped for 245 individuals to investigate population structure in the Atlantic and Pacific populations of the pelagic seabird, Leach's storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa. This species is under intense predation pressure at one regionally important colony on St Kilda, Scotland, where a disparity between population decline and predation rates hints at immigration from other large colonies. AMOVA, F(ST), F(ST) and Bayesian cluster analyses revealed no genetic structure among Atlantic colonies (Global F(ST)=-0.02 p>0.05, Global F(ST)=0.003, p>0.05, STRUCTURE K=1), consistent with either contemporary gene flow or strong historical association within the ocean basin. The Pacific and Atlantic populations are genetically distinct (Global F(ST)=0.32 p<0.0001, Global F(ST)=0.04, p<0.0001, STRUCTURE K=2), but evidence for interocean exchange was found with individual exclusion/assignment and population coalescent analyses. These findings highlight the importance of conserving multiple colonies at a number of different sites and suggest that management of this seabird may be best viewed at an oceanic scale."

  According to the news reporters, the researchers concluded: "Moreover, our study provides an illustration of how long-distance movement may ameliorate the potentially deleterious impacts of localized environmental change, although direct measures of dispersal are still required to better understand this process."

  For more information on this research see: Population genetic structure and long-distance dispersal among seabird populations: implications for colony persistence. Molecular Ecology, 2012;21(12):2863-76. (Wiley-Blackwell - www.wiley.com/; Molecular Ecology - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-294X)

  Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting A.W. Bicknell, Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK.

  Keywords for this news article include: Europe, Plymouth, United Kingdom, Molecular Ecology.

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