The effects of weather variability on patterns of genetic diversity in Tasmanian bettongs

Proft, Kirstin; Bateman, Brooke L.; Johnson, Christopher N.; Jones, Menna Lloyd; Pauza, Matthew; Burridge, Christopher P.

doi:10.1111/mec.15847

Cited by 5 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 92 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…There is a disparity between our work and that of Proft et al (2021), who found precipitation in the driest quarter, minimum temperature of the coldest month and annual precipitation to be most associated with B. gaimardi occurrence. However, we did find precipitation of the driest month to be comparable to precipitation in the driest quarter reported by Proft et al (2021). The higher number (254) and more varied sources of B. gaimardi records used by Proft et al (2021) in constructing their Species Distribution Model (SDM) is likely to be the reason for any discrepancies.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 94%

“…The Worldclim open-source database (Fick and Hijmans 2017) was used to determine climate values. Eight measurements of temperature and rainfall were used, following C previous work on B. gaimardi climate range conducted by Proft et al (2021). These were mean annual temperature, temperature seasonality (s.d.…”

Section: Vegetation Geology and Climate Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both species fall within the 450-5000 g weight range on which fox (Vulpes vulpes, Linnaeus 1758) predation is suggested to be substantial (Dickman 1996;Rose and Rose 1998;Robley et al 2014;Norton et al 2015). Other contributors to decline include predation by the feral cat (Felis catus, Linneaus 1758) and dog (Canis lupus, Linneaus 1758), habitat loss and fragmentation, inappropriate fire regime and drought (Dickman 1996;Johnson 1997;Rose and Rose 1998;Norton et al 2010bNorton et al , 2015Andren et al 2013Andren et al , 2018Gardiner et al 2019b;Proft et al 2021). The mainland subspecies, P. tridactylus tridactylus, is listed as Vulnerable under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, whereas B. gaimardi is listed as Vulnerable on the Mammal Action Plan and Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (Woinarski et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…As the presence and abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi are influenced by precipitation and soil fertility, B. gaimardi and P. tridactylus habitat is also predicted by these factors (Slankis 1974;Bougher 1995). However, whereas B. gaimardi is common over a wide temperature range and in areas of lower rainfall (Taylor 1993a;Proft et al 2021), P. tridactylus is associated with higher rainfall and milder temperatures (Claridge et al 1993(Claridge et al , 2019Claridge and Barry 2000;Robley et al 2014). This means that B. gaimardi is recorded largely from dry sclerophyll habitats in Tasmania (Rose and Rose 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bettongia gaimardi is extinct on mainland Australia and the Tasmanian population has reduced genetic diversity (Rose and Rose 1998;Proft et al 2021). Although still extant, the decline of P. tridactylus on mainland Australia is well documented (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying important environmental variables in the niche partitioning of two keystone ecosystem engineers (Bettongia gaimardi and Potorous tridactylus) in Tasmania

Standaloft

Kirkpatrick

2022

Wildlife Res.

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Context. The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) and the long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) are mycophagous marsupials regarded as both keystone species and ecosystem engineers. Despite Tasmania being a refuge for these declining species, their niche partitioning is poorly understood. Aims. Our aim was to identify factors that distinguish the distributions of B. gaimardi and P. tridactylus, and to develop a better explanation of their individual niches. Methods. The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment conducted mammal surveys between 1975 and 2019. We used GIS to analyse these data, and geospatial information to identify relationships between B. gaimardi and P. tridactylus presence/absence and environmental variables. We then developed a model describing the distributions of these species in Tasmania. Key results. Temperature seasonality (s.d. × 100), precipitation of wettest month (mm), precipitation of the driest month (mm), precipitation seasonality (coefficient of variation), the presence of vegetation dominated by Eucalyptus amygdalina and the presence of lowland grassy woodland/forest were the components in the best model for B. gaimardi. Our model broadly predicts that the distribution of B. gaimardi is restricted to the more fertile eastern half of Tasmania. P. tridactylus was associated with very few variables, with the presence of E. amygdalina-Eucalyptus obliqua damp forest being the only component in a very weak model. Transects with P. tridactylus and not B. gaimardi were more associated with rainforest and wet forest communities and areas of higher annual and wettest-month precipitation than were those with B. gaimardi and not P. tridactylus. Conclusions. The importance of infertile sites to B. gaimardi may have been overstated in the literature, with moderate to high fertility being more characteristic of its range. B. gaimardi is adapted to persist in environments of low truffle (food) density, typical of the eastern half of Tasmania, through its ability to adopt a larger home range than for P. tridactylus, which requires dense ground vegetation. Implications. Sites of high fertility in fragmented landscapes should be considered to be potential habitat for B. gaimardi. This challenges previous assumptions that infertile sites are the primary habitat of the species, with fertile sites offering poorer-quality habitat.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 94%

Section: Vegetation Geology and Climate Data Setsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Identifying important environmental variables in the niche partitioning of two keystone ecosystem engineers (Bettongia gaimardi and Potorous tridactylus) in Tasmania

Standaloft

Kirkpatrick

2022

Wildlife Res.

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Simulating Genetic Mixing in Strongly Structured Populations of the Threatened Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)

Black,

Cooper,

Schmidt

et al. 2024

Evolutionary Applications

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Genetic mixing aims to increase the genetic diversity of small or isolated populations, by mitigating genetic drift and inbreeding depression, either by maximally increasing genetic diversity, or minimising the prevalence of recessive, deleterious alleles. However, few studies investigate this beyond a single generation of mixing. Here, we model genetic mixing using captive, low‐diversity recipient population of the threatened Southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) over 50 generations and compare wild populations across south‐eastern Australia as candidate source populations. We first assess genetic differentiation between 12 populations, including the first genomic assessment of three mainland Australian and three Tasmanian populations. We assess genetic diversity in the 12 populations using an individualised autosomal heterozygosity pipeline, using these results to identify a candidate recipient population for genetic mixing simulations. We found that populations fell into four major groups of genetic similarity: Adelaide Hills, western Victoria, eastern Victoria, and Tasmania, but populations within these groups were also distinct, and additional substructure was observed in some populations. Our autosomal heterozygosity pipeline indicated significant variability in mean heterozygosity between populations, identifying one extremely genetically degraded population on Inner Sister Island, Tasmania. Genetic mixing simulations of a low heterozygosity captive population in Victoria suggested the greatest increase in heterozygosity would be reached by using highly differentiated populations as mixing sources. However, when removing populations that may represent taxonomically discrete lineages, neither metrics of differentiation nor heterozygosity was strongly correlated with modelled heterozygosity increase, indicating the value of simulation‐based approaches when selecting source populations for population mixing.

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Heterogeneous patterns of heterozygosity loss in isolated populations of the threatened eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)

Black,

van Rooyen,

Heinze

et al. 2023

Molecular Ecology

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Identifying and analysing isolated populations is critical for conservation. Isolation can make populations vulnerable to local extinction due to increased genetic drift and inbreeding, both of which should leave imprints of decreased genome‐wide heterozygosity. While decreases in heterozygosity among populations are frequently investigated, fewer studies have analysed how heterozygosity varies among individuals, including whether heterozygosity varies geographically along lines of discrete population structure or with continuous patterns analogous to isolation by distance. Here we explore geographical patterns of differentiation and individual heterozygosity in the threatened eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) in Tasmania, Australia, using genomic data from 85 samples collected between 2008 and 2011. Our analyses identified two isolated demes undergoing significant genetic drift, and several areas of fine‐scale differentiation across Tasmania. We observed discrete genetic structures across geographical barriers and continuous patterns of isolation by distance, with little evidence of recent or historical migration. Using a recently developed analytical pipeline for estimating autosomal heterozygosity, we found individual heterozygosities varied within demes by up to a factor of two, and demes with low‐heterozygosity individuals also still contained those with high heterozygosity. Spatial interpolation of heterozygosity scores clarified these patterns and identified the isolated Tasman Peninsula as a location where low‐heterozygosity individuals were more common than elsewhere. Our results provide novel insights into the relationship between isolation‐driven genetic structure and local heterozygosity patterns. These may help improve translocation efforts, by identifying populations in need of assistance, and by providing an individualised metric for identifying source animals for translocation.

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The effects of weather variability on patterns of genetic diversity in Tasmanian bettongs

Cited by 5 publications

References 92 publications

Identifying important environmental variables in the niche partitioning of two keystone ecosystem engineers (Bettongia gaimardi and Potorous tridactylus) in Tasmania

Identifying important environmental variables in the niche partitioning of two keystone ecosystem engineers (Bettongia gaimardi and Potorous tridactylus) in Tasmania

Simulating Genetic Mixing in Strongly Structured Populations of the Threatened Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus)

Heterogeneous patterns of heterozygosity loss in isolated populations of the threatened eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii)

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