Contemporary genetic, historical genetic and morphological data sets for the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops

Understanding the evolutionary history of threatened populations can improve their conservation management. Re-establishment of past but recent gene flow could re-invigorate threatened populations and replenish genetic diversity, necessary for population persistence. One of the four nominal subspecies of the common yellow-tufted honeyeater, Lichenostomus melanops cassidix, is critically endangered despite substantial conservation efforts over 55 years. Using a combination of morphometric, genetic and modelling approaches we tested for its evolutionary distinctiveness and conservation merit. We confirmed that cassidix has at least one morphometric distinction. It also differs genetically from the other subspecies in allele frequencies but not phylogenetically, implying that its evolution was recent. Modelling historical distribution supported the lack of vicariance and suggested a possibility of gene flow among subspecies at least since the late Pleistocene. Multi-locus coalescent analyses indicated that cassidix diverged from its common ancestor with neighbouring subspecies gippslandicus sometime from the mid-Pleistocene to the Holocene, and that it has the smallest historical effective population size of all subspecies. It appears that cassidix diverged from its ancestor with gippslandicus through a combination of drift and local selection. From patterns of genetic subdivision on two spatial scales and morphological variation we concluded that cassidix, gippslandicus and (melanops + meltoni) are diagnosable as subspecies. Low genetic diversity and effective population size of cassidix may translate to low genetic fitness and evolutionary potential, thus managed gene flow from gippslandicus is recommended for its recovery.

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Cite this as

Pavlova, Alexandra, Selwood, Peter, Harrisson, Katherine A, Murray, Neil, Quin, Bruce, Menkhorst, Peter, Smales, Ian, Sunnucks, Paul (2014). Dataset: Contemporary genetic, historical genetic and morphological data sets for the Yellow-tufted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.830410

DOI retrieved: 2014

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 30, 2024
Last update November 30, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.830410
Author Pavlova, Alexandra
Given Name Alexandra
Family Name Pavlova
More Authors
Selwood, Peter
Harrisson, Katherine A
Murray, Neil
Quin, Bruce
Menkhorst, Peter
Smales, Ian
Sunnucks, Paul
Source Creation 2014
Publication Year 2014
Resource Type application/zip - filename: Pavlova_2014
Subject Areas
Name: Ecology

Related Identifiers
Title: Integrating phylogeography and morphometrics to assess conservation merits and inform conservation strategies for an endangered subspecies of a common species
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.04.005
Type: DOI
Relation: IsSupplementTo
Year: 2014
Source: Biological Conservation
Authors: Pavlova Alexandra , Selwood Peter , Harrisson Katherine A , Murray Neil , Quin Bruce , Menkhorst Peter , Smales Ian , Sunnucks Paul .

Title: Geographic distribution of Lichenostomus melanops samples
Identifier: hdl:10013/epic.43191.d011
Type: DOI
Relation: References