Journal
AUSTRALIAN MAMMALOGY
Volume 34, Issue 1, Pages 68-74Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/AM10035
Keywords
bottleneck; genetic diversity; microsatellite DNA; population structure; translocation
Categories
Funding
- Wildlife Health and Conservation Centre, The University of Sydney
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Population genetics can reveal otherwise hidden information involving a species' history in a given region. Koalas were thought to have been virtually exterminated from the Australian state of Victoria during the koala fur trade of the late 1800s. Koalas in the South Gippsland region of Victoria were examined using microsatellite markers to infer population structure and gene flow and to locate a possible remnant gene pool. The results indicate that the South Gippsland koala population had higher genetic diversity (A = 5.97, H-o = 0.564) than other published Victorian populations, and was genetically distinct from other koala populations examined. South Gippsland koalas, therefore, may have survived the population reductions of the koala fur trade and now represent a remnant Victorian gene pool that has been largely lost from the remainder of Victoria. This paper illustrates that historic anthropogenic impacts have had little effect on reducing the genetic diversity of a population in the South Gippsland region. However, the South Gippsland population is now subject to threats such as logging and loss of habitat from housing and agriculture expansion. Our results suggest that the South Gippsland koalas require an alternative conservation management program.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available