Journal article
Strong genetic structure corresponds to small-scale geographic breaks in the Australian alpine grasshopper Kosciuscola tristis
RA Slatyer, MA Nash, AD Miller, Y Endo, KDL Umbers, AA Hoffmann
BMC Evolutionary Biology | Published : 2014
Abstract
Background: Mountain landscapes are topographically complex, creating discontinuous 'islands' of alpine and sub-alpine habitat with a dynamic history. Changing climatic conditions drive their expansion and contraction, leaving signatures on the genetic structure of their flora and fauna. Australia's high country covers a small, highly fragmented area. Although the area is thought to have experienced periods of relative continuity during Pleistocene glacial periods, small-scale studies suggest deep lineage divergence across low-elevation gaps. Using both DNA sequence data and microsatellite markers, we tested the hypothesis that genetic partitioning reflects observable geographic structuring ..
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Awarded by Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment
Funding Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Philippa Griffin, Rebecca Jordan, Rob Lanfear and Joel Huey, for advice on data analysis and interpretation. Three anonymous reviewers and editor Steven Cooper also provided insightful comments and suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript and for which we are most grateful. Thanks also to Harry, Tony and Robyn Slatyer, Mira Wawn, Nick and Barnard, Nik Tatarnic, and Martina Hoffmann for help catching grasshoppers. This work was funded by the Australian Research Council, the Long Term Terrestrial Research Network, the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment (grants to RAS and YE) and a Victorian Environmental Assessment Council Bill Borthwick Scholarship to RS. Grasshoppers were collected under permit numbers SL101032 (NSW Department of Environment) and 10006742 (Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industry).