Genetic diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are greatly impacted by human activities

Genetic diversity is the most fundamental dimension of biodiversity, which is important for biodiversity conservation but has been more threatened than other dimensions of biodiversity. Human activities have reshaped ecosystems across the planet and are the greatest threat to biodiversity. However, the impact of human activities on the genetic diversity remains unclear, with significant effects of human activities can’t be detected in a large number of species. This outcome may be due to the influence of extinction filter effects. Species vary in their sensitivity to human activities. In regions greatly impacted by human activities, sensitive species may have already gone locally extinct or migrated. The remaining species are less sensitive to human disturbances. Therefore, it is difficult to detect the effects of human activities in these species. To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between anthropogenic factors and geographic patterns of genetic diversity of endemic amphibians and reptiles of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been minimally affected by human activities. If extinction filter affected the relationships between human activities and genetic diversity, we should detect strong impacts of human activities. Conversely, given the low level of human activity on the plateau, we should not detect any significant impact of human activities. Herein, we constructed the geographic patterns of genetic diversity of seven endemic amphibian and reptile species. We examined the relationships between genetic diversity and natural and anthropogenic factors. Our results showed that human activity was the most important environmental factor affecting species’ genetic diversities, supporting that extinction filter effects may influence the relationship between human activity and genetic diversity. Additionally, we found that the effects of different anthropogenic factors on genetic diversity varied considerably, which suggested factors representing different aspects of human activities should be considered when examining the impacts between human activities.