Genetic structure and population dynamics of the silver pheasant (Lophuranycthemera) in southern China

Chaoying Zhu,Liangjie Yu,Zhen Zhang,Yuqing Han,Dongqin Zhao,Wenjing Lu,Guanglong Sun,Peng Chen,Jiang Chen,Junpeng Bai,Zhifeng Xu,Luzhang Ruan

doi:10.3906/zoo-1909-45

Abstract

In southern China, the silver pheasant (Lophura nycthemera) is a widespread species due to complex topography and sufficient habitats and food resources. We investigated the microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA control region sequence of 115 individuals from 7 locations in China to study population dynamics of the silver pheasant during the Pleistocene. The neutrality test and mismatch distribution analyses showed that population expansion began in the interglacial period (76,053 years ago), and the latest common ancestor appeared approximately 970,300 years ago. Most populations exhibited a high level of genetic diversity as well as gene flow. Results of phylogenetic trees and network and STRUCTURE analyses provided insights into the weak population structure of this species. The weak phylogeographic and complex historical expansion population of the silver pheasant during the interglacial period could probably be related to its complex topography and the sufficient amount of suitable habitats and food resources in southern China.

Highlights

IntroductionPleistocene geologic and climatic events seriously affected the genetic patterns and phylogeographic structure of organisms (Cracraft, 1973; Hewitt CD, 2000; Wu et al, 2012; Wang et al, 2017), resulting in high diversity in tropical and subtropical areas of southern China, which was an important biodiversity site due to sufficient suitable habitats and abundant food resources during the glacial periods (Alain et al, 1998; Crowe et al, 2006; Huang et al, 2010; Cao et al, 2012)
High genetic diversity and gene flow lead to a weak population structure Both the genetic diversity and gene flow of silver pheasant were high, whereas the population structure was comparatively weak. Both the mtDNA and microsatellite analyses in our investigation showed that genetic diversity was high in all the geographical populations (Table 4), possibly because of the wide distribution of the silver pheasant (Dong, 2011) and its habitat mainly distributed in warmer regions of southern China, a principal highlevel biodiversity area with abundant habitats (Crowe et al, 2006)
The high genetic diversity in this area was attributed to the long history (TMRCA = 970,300 ybp) of colonizing and evolving, and this observation was supported by the statistical analysis of historical demographic data (Table 6; Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Pleistocene geologic and climatic events seriously affected the genetic patterns and phylogeographic structure of organisms (Cracraft, 1973; Hewitt CD, 2000; Wu et al, 2012; Wang et al, 2017), resulting in high diversity in tropical and subtropical areas of southern China, which was an important biodiversity site due to sufficient suitable habitats and abundant food resources during the glacial periods (Alain et al, 1998; Crowe et al, 2006; Huang et al, 2010; Cao et al, 2012) In these regions, birds could survive in different refugia and may have differentiated into new lineages (Hewitt G, 2000) where gene flow could be prevented by some types of geographic barriers (Aleixo, 2004; Anthony et al, 2007; Nicolas et al, 2011). Sexbiased dispersal can improve breeding opportunities for birds, thereby increasing gene flow, genetic diversity, and inclusive fitness (Clinton et al, 2007; Hamilton and May, 1977; Taylor, 1988; Pernetta et al, 2011), which are significantly beneficial to the evolutionary process of a population (Paris et al, 2016)

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Conclusion