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    The Population and Ecological Genetic Effects of Habitat Fragmentation

    Cover for The Population and Ecological Genetic Effects of Habitat Fragmentation
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    View/Open: Battocletti_georgetown_0076M_13714.pdf (859kB) Bookview

    Creator
    Battocletti, Amy Henning
    Advisor
    Wimp, Gina M
    Abstract
    Maintaining intraspecific variation is important for populations’ long-term success and is increasingly being recognized as an important conservation goal. Populations in anthropogenically fragmented habitats may lose variation rapidly via genetic drift, particularly in small fragments with a high ratio of edge to interior habitat. We studied the population and ecological genetic effects of habitat fragmentation on both a foundation plant, Spartina patens, and a dependent herbivore, Tumidagena minuta, using a naturally fragmented, salt marsh model system. We employed microsatellite marker analyses to estimate various measures of genetic variation, including allelic richness and heterozygosity, and to estimate the strength of genetic drift using estimates of effective population size (Ne). To achieve this, we developed a new program to estimate Ne and developed new markers for S. patens from genome sequence data. We found lower S. patens genetic variation and lower T. minuta Ne near the S. alterniflora edges, indicating that T. minuta experience stronger genetic drift near edges. These findings reinforce the importance of habitat patch shape in influencing populations.
    Description
    M.S.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1043815
    Date Published
    2017
    Subject
    genetic drift; habitat fragmentation; microsatellite; salt marsh; Spartina patens; Tumidagena minuta; Ecology; Genetics; Ecology; Genetics;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    93 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Biology
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    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2022 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility