Reduction of Genetic Diversity of the Harpy Eagle in Brazilian Tropical Forests.

Aureo Banhos,Tânia M Sanaiotti,Izeni Pires Farias,Tomas Hrbek,Govindhaswamy Umapathy

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148902

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation intensify the effects of genetic drift and endogamy, reducing genetic variability of populations with serious consequences for wildlife conservation. The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a forest dwelling species that is considered near threatened and suffers from habitat loss in the forests of the Neotropical region. In this study, 72 historical and current samples were assessed using eight autosomal microsatellite markers to investigate the distribution of genetic diversity of the Harpy Eagle of the Amazonian and Atlantic forests in Brazil. The results showed that the genetic diversity of Harpy Eagle decreased in the regions where deforestation is intense in the southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest.

Highlights

Habitat loss and fragmentation can lead to reduction in connectivity of populations with concomitant decrease in gene flow, increasing genetic differentiation and reducing genetic variability [1,2]
These results indicate that the southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest do not harbor distinct populations of the Harpy Eagle and gallery forest connections through the central and southern open vegetation corridor had an important role for maintaining gene flow and that historical connection between the Amazon and Atlantic Forest existed
In spatial-temporal comparisons, the differences in FST values observed in the comparison between Northern Amazon (NAM) and Contemporary Southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest (CSA) were greater than those observed between NAM and Historical Southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest (HSA) (Table 1), suggesting that differences in allele frequencies between NAM and southern Amazon and Atlantic Forest is greater currently that it was in the past

Summary

Introduction

Habitat loss and fragmentation can lead to reduction in connectivity of populations with concomitant decrease in gene flow, increasing genetic differentiation and reducing genetic variability [1,2]. Populations that are threatened and their numbers reduced by anthropogenic activities present low levels of genetic diversity resulting from increased genetic drift [5,6,7,8]. Differentiating a recent reduction in genetic diversity from an ancestral state of the population can help to plan appropriate conservation measures. This kind of information can be obtained by comparison of historical samples stored in biological collections and extant populations [10,11,12]

Methods

Results

Conclusion