TY - JOUR
T1 - The hidden costs of living in a transformed habitat
T2 - Ecological and evolutionary consequences in a tripartite mutualistic system with a keystone mistletoe
AU - Fontúrbel, Francisco E.
AU - Bruford, Michael W.
AU - Salazar, Daniela A.
AU - Cortés-Miranda, Jorge
AU - Vega-Retter, Caren
N1 - Funding Information:
A. Candia, J. Malebrán, H. González, C. Valenzuela and V. Riffo assisted in field. M. Murúa assisted in the laboratory. The Nature Conservancy and the Valdivian Coastal Reserve granted access to the field site and provided lodging facilities. C. Botto, R. Medel, D. Véliz, and P. Beerli. This work was supported by the Rufford Foundation (grant 14669-2 ) and FONDECYT (projects 3140528 and 11160152 to FEF, project 11150213 to CVR).
Funding Information:
A. Candia, J. Malebrán, H. González, C. Valenzuela and V. Riffo assisted in field. M. Murúa assisted in the laboratory. The Nature Conservancy and the Valdivian Coastal Reserve granted access to the field site and provided lodging facilities. C. Botto, R. Medel, D. Véliz, and P. Beerli. This work was supported by the Rufford Foundation (grant 14669-2) and FONDECYT (projects 3140528 and 11160152 to FEF, project 11150213 to CVR).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/2/15
Y1 - 2019/2/15
N2 - Land use change is one of the most important anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss. Nevertheless, the ecological and evolutionary consequences of habitat transformation remain less understood than those from habitat fragmentation. Transformed habitats are structurally simpler, altering species composition and their ecological interactions, potentially compromising gene flow and genetic diversity. We focused on a tripartite mutualistic system composed of a mistletoe (Tristerix corymbosus), its pollinator (Sephanoides sephaniodes) and its seed disperser (Dromiciops gliroides) to assess changes in their ecological and evolutionary dynamics as a result of habitat transformation. We used eight microsatellite markers to compare genetic diversity, relatedness and gene flow among five mistletoe groups inhabiting native and transformed habitats (abandoned Eucalyptus globulus plantations). We found that these groups were genetically structured, with greater allelic richness and genetic diversity in their native habitat. Also, we found higher relatedness among mistletoe individuals in transformed habitats, which varied as a function of the geographic distance among plants, probably as a result of larger resource availability, which influenced mutualist visitation rates. We did not find differences in the current migration patterns, which suggests that Tristerix corymbosus may be resilient to habitat transformation. Yet, its highly specialized interactions along with changes in its spatial configuration depict a more complex scenario, which probably impose a cost in terms of lower genetic diversity and increased relatedness that might compromise its long-term viability.
AB - Land use change is one of the most important anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss. Nevertheless, the ecological and evolutionary consequences of habitat transformation remain less understood than those from habitat fragmentation. Transformed habitats are structurally simpler, altering species composition and their ecological interactions, potentially compromising gene flow and genetic diversity. We focused on a tripartite mutualistic system composed of a mistletoe (Tristerix corymbosus), its pollinator (Sephanoides sephaniodes) and its seed disperser (Dromiciops gliroides) to assess changes in their ecological and evolutionary dynamics as a result of habitat transformation. We used eight microsatellite markers to compare genetic diversity, relatedness and gene flow among five mistletoe groups inhabiting native and transformed habitats (abandoned Eucalyptus globulus plantations). We found that these groups were genetically structured, with greater allelic richness and genetic diversity in their native habitat. Also, we found higher relatedness among mistletoe individuals in transformed habitats, which varied as a function of the geographic distance among plants, probably as a result of larger resource availability, which influenced mutualist visitation rates. We did not find differences in the current migration patterns, which suggests that Tristerix corymbosus may be resilient to habitat transformation. Yet, its highly specialized interactions along with changes in its spatial configuration depict a more complex scenario, which probably impose a cost in terms of lower genetic diversity and increased relatedness that might compromise its long-term viability.
KW - Eucalyptus plantation
KW - Microsatellite markers
KW - Relatedness
KW - South American temperate rainforest
KW - Spatial structure
KW - Tristerix corymbosus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054826320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.125
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.125
M3 - Article
C2 - 30463128
AN - SCOPUS:85054826320
VL - 651
SP - 2740
EP - 2748
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
ER -