Journal
CONSERVATION GENETICS
Volume 10, Issue 6, Pages 1683-1696Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10592-008-9746-3
Keywords
Population structure; Biogeography; Gene flow; Landscape genetics; Conservation; Evolution
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [DBI-0511958, IOS0743284]
- Scott Neotropical Fund
- FONACIT [2000001319]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems [743284] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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We studied the population genetics of Podocnemis unifilis turtles within and among basins in the Orinoco and Amazon drainages using microsatellites. We detected high levels of genetic diversity in all sampled localities. However, 'M-ratio' tests revealed a substantial recent population decline in ten localities, in accord with current widespread exploitation. Our results reveal a consistent pattern across multiple analyses, showing a clear subdivision between the populations inhabiting the Amazon and Orinoco drainages despite a direct connection via the Casiquiare corridor, and suggesting the existence of two biogeographically independent and widely divergent lineages. Genetic differentiation followed an isolation-by-distance model concordant with hypotheses about migration. It appears that migration occurs via the flooded forest in some drainages, and via river channels in those where geographic barriers preclude dispersal between basins or even among nearby tributaries of the same basin. These observations caution against making generalizations based on geographically restricted data, and indicate that geographically proximate populations may be demographically separate units requiring independent management.
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