Origine, evoluzione e conservazione degli hotspot di diversità genetica intraspecifica
Author(s)
Pezzarossa, Alice
Date Issued
May 31, 2019
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Intraspecific genetic diversity is the main resource of the species to adapt to environmental changes caused by the great transformations that the planet is undergoing following the pressing anthropic actions. The identification of intraspecific genetic hotspot, the detailed analysis of the populations that compose them and the study of the processes that generated them are today important topic research to define biodiversity conservation practices and their long-term effectiveness. The aims of this study were: the detailed analysis of the intraspecific genetic hotspots of Bombina pachypus, the identification of the micro-evolutionary processes which generated the intraspecific genetic hotspot and the study of the spatial distribution and the conservation status of these hotspots in the peninsular Italy. We focused on terrestrial vertebrate endemic of the peninsular Italy and we integrated analytical tools and sampling schemes of both phylogeography and species distribution modeling, resulting in a finer spatial resolution. Our results clearly demonstrated that intraspecific genetic hotspot were neither a geographically homogeneous nor a temporally stable units. On the contrary, the detected hotspot showed a strong geographic spatial patterns for each of the investigated features. Moreover, we found how the gene flow and the secondary contact between divergent populations were probably the main drivers for the origin of intraspecific genetic hotspots, at least as regards our study area. Finally, both nuclear and mitochondrial genetic diversity hotspot were located in the southern portion of the peninsula but they were not coincident; moreover, they were both poorly protected by the current protected areas network. Our results showed how the tools and the geographic scales currently used to identify and study hotspot do not guarantee the right conservation of intraspecific genetic diversity.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Ecologia e gestione sostenibile delle risorse ambientali
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
apezzarossa_tesid.pdf
Size
14.33 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
7f2be304267881d82f2f006020574168