A novel landscape genetics approach demonstrates the effects of human disturbance on the Udzungwa red colobus monkey (Procolobus gordonorum)

A comprehensive understanding of how human disturbance affects tropical forest ecosystems is critical for the mitigation of future losses in global biodiversity. Although many genetic studies of tropical forest fragmentation have been conducted to provide insight into this issue, relatively few have incorporated landscape data to explicitly test the effects of human disturbance on genetic differentiation among populations. In this study, we use a newly developed landscape genetic approach that relies on a genetic algorithm to simultaneously optimize resistance surfaces to investigate the effects of human disturbance in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, which is an important part of a universally recognized biodiversity hotspot. Our study species is the endangered Udzungwa red colobus monkey (Procolobus gordonorum), which is endemic to the Udzungwa Mountains and a known indicator species that thrives in large and well-protected blocks of old growth forest. Population genetic analyses i...全面厘清人类干扰对热带森林生态系统的影响机制，对于减缓全球生物多样性的未来丧失至关重要。尽管已有诸多针对热带森林片段化的遗传学研究为该问题提供了认知，但相对而言，极少有研究结合景观数据，以明确检验人类干扰对种群间遗传分化的影响。本研究采用一种全新开发的、依托遗传算法（genetic algorithm）的景观遗传学（landscape genetics）方法，通过同步优化抗性表面，以探究坦桑尼亚乌德宗瓦山脉的人类干扰效应——该区域是全球公认生物多样性热点的重要组成部分。本研究的研究物种为濒危的乌德宗瓦红疣猴（Procolobus gordonorum），该物种为乌德宗瓦山脉特有种，同时也是一类已知的指示物种，偏好栖息于大面积且保护完好的原始林斑块中。种群遗传分析……