Identifying designatable units for intraspecific conservation prioritization: a hierarchical approach applied to the lake whitefish species complex (Coregonus spp.)

Evolutionary Applications

Jonathan A. Mee²  Louis Bernatchez³  Jim D. Reist¹  Sean M. Rogers² 

[1] Fisheries and Oceans, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada;Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada

关键词: adaptation;    conservation biology;    coregonine problem;    designatable unit;    evolutionarily significant unit;    glacial lineages;    phylogeography;    species complex;   

DOI  :  10.1111/eva.12247

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

The concept of the designatable unit (DU) affords a practical approach to identifying diversity below the species level for conservation prioritization. However, its suitability for defining conservation units in ecologically diverse, geographically widespread and taxonomically challenging species complexes has not been broadly evaluated. The lake whitefish species complex (Coregonus spp.) is geographically widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains a great deal of variability in ecology and evolutionary legacy within and among populations, as well as a great deal of taxonomic ambiguity. Here, we employ a set of hierarchical criteria to identify DUs within the Canadian distribution of the lake whitefish species complex. We identified 36 DUs based on (i) reproductive isolation, (ii) phylogeographic groupings, (iii) local adaptation and (iv) biogeographic regions. The identification of DUs is required for clear discussion regarding the conservation prioritization of lake whitefish populations. We suggest conservation priorities among lake whitefish DUs based on biological consequences of extinction, risk of extinction and distinctiveness. Our results exemplify the need for extensive genetic and biogeographic analyses for any species with broad geographic distributions and the need for detailed evaluation of evolutionary history and adaptive ecological divergence when defining intraspecific conservation units.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Evolutionary Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.