Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses
International audience Low genetic diversity is predicted to negatively impact species viability and has been a central concern for conservation. In contrast, the possibility that some speciesmay thrive in spite of a relatively poor diversity has received little attention. The wandering and Amsterda...
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-00183595v1 2024-02-27T08:39:58+00:00 Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses Milot, Emmanuel Weimerskirch, Henri Duchesne, Pierre Bernatchez, Louis Départment de Biologie Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Département de Biologie 2007-01 https://hal.science/hal-00183595 en eng HAL CCSD Royal Society, The hal-00183595 https://hal.science/hal-00183595 ISSN: 0370-1662 EISSN: 2053-9126 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London https://hal.science/hal-00183595 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 2007, 274, pp.779-787 genetic diversity life-history traits albatrosses AFLP [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2007 ftccsdartic 2024-01-28T03:21:32Z International audience Low genetic diversity is predicted to negatively impact species viability and has been a central concern for conservation. In contrast, the possibility that some speciesmay thrive in spite of a relatively poor diversity has received little attention. The wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses (Diomedea exulans and Diomedea amsterdamensis) are long-lived seabirds standing at an extreme along the gradient of life strategies, having traits that may favour inbreeding and low genetic diversity. Divergence time of the two species is estimated at 0.84 Myr ago from cytochrome b data.We tested the hypothesis that both albatrosses inherited poor genetic diversity from their common ancestor. Within the wandering albatross, per cent polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity at amplified fragment length polymorphisms were approximately one-third of the minimal values reported in other vertebrates. Genetic diversity in the Amsterdam albatross, which is recovering from a severe bottleneck, was about twice as low as in the wandering albatross. Simulations supported the hypothesis that genetic diversity in albatrosses was already depleted prior to their divergence. Given the generally high breeding success of these species, it is likely that they are not suffering much from their impoverished diversity. Whether albatrosses are unique in this regard is unknown, but they appear to challenge the classical view about the negative consequences of genetic depletion on species survival. Article in Journal/Newspaper Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
op_collection_id |
ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
genetic diversity life-history traits albatrosses AFLP [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
spellingShingle |
genetic diversity life-history traits albatrosses AFLP [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes Milot, Emmanuel Weimerskirch, Henri Duchesne, Pierre Bernatchez, Louis Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
topic_facet |
genetic diversity life-history traits albatrosses AFLP [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
description |
International audience Low genetic diversity is predicted to negatively impact species viability and has been a central concern for conservation. In contrast, the possibility that some speciesmay thrive in spite of a relatively poor diversity has received little attention. The wandering and Amsterdam albatrosses (Diomedea exulans and Diomedea amsterdamensis) are long-lived seabirds standing at an extreme along the gradient of life strategies, having traits that may favour inbreeding and low genetic diversity. Divergence time of the two species is estimated at 0.84 Myr ago from cytochrome b data.We tested the hypothesis that both albatrosses inherited poor genetic diversity from their common ancestor. Within the wandering albatross, per cent polymorphic loci and expected heterozygosity at amplified fragment length polymorphisms were approximately one-third of the minimal values reported in other vertebrates. Genetic diversity in the Amsterdam albatross, which is recovering from a severe bottleneck, was about twice as low as in the wandering albatross. Simulations supported the hypothesis that genetic diversity in albatrosses was already depleted prior to their divergence. Given the generally high breeding success of these species, it is likely that they are not suffering much from their impoverished diversity. Whether albatrosses are unique in this regard is unknown, but they appear to challenge the classical view about the negative consequences of genetic depletion on species survival. |
author2 |
Départment de Biologie Université Laval Québec (ULaval) Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Département de Biologie |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Milot, Emmanuel Weimerskirch, Henri Duchesne, Pierre Bernatchez, Louis |
author_facet |
Milot, Emmanuel Weimerskirch, Henri Duchesne, Pierre Bernatchez, Louis |
author_sort |
Milot, Emmanuel |
title |
Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
title_short |
Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
title_full |
Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
title_fullStr |
Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
title_sort |
surviving with low genetic diversity: the case of albatrosses |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00183595 |
genre |
Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Diomedea exulans Wandering Albatross |
op_source |
ISSN: 0370-1662 EISSN: 2053-9126 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London https://hal.science/hal-00183595 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 2007, 274, pp.779-787 |
op_relation |
hal-00183595 https://hal.science/hal-00183595 |
_version_ |
1792047048267137024 |