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. 2010 Aug 10;5(8):e12061.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012061.

Invasive predators deplete genetic diversity of island lizards

Amandine Gasc  1 , M C Duryea, Robert M Cox, Andrew Kern, Ryan Calsbeek
Affiliations

Invasive predators deplete genetic diversity of island lizards

Amandine Gasc et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Invasive species can dramatically impact natural populations, especially those living on islands. Though numerous examples illustrate the ecological impact of invasive predators, no study has examined the genetic consequences for native populations subject to invasion. Here we capitalize on a natural experiment in which a long-term study of the brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei) was interrupted by rat invasion. An island population that was devastated by rats recovered numerically following rat extermination. However, population genetic analyses at six microsatellite loci suggested a possible loss of genetic diversity due to invasion when compared to an uninvaded island studied over the same time frame. Our results provide partial support for the hypothesis that invasive predators can impact the genetic diversity of resident island populations.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Changes in genetic diversity following rat invasion.
The lizard population that experienced rat invasion showed significant loss of A. allelic richness and B. heterozygosity compared to the uninvaded “control”. Analyses show means (+SE) across six microsatellite loci. Significance values are from repeated measures ANOVA.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Approximate Bayesian estimation of theta.
Analyses revealed no measurable change in effective population size following rat invasion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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