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Phylogeographic patterns and conservation units of a vulnerable species, Cabot’s tragopan (Tragopan caboti), endemic to southeast China

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Abstract

Cabot’s tragopan (Tragopan caboti) is a pheasant endemic to southeast China and is protected under both national and global legislation due to ongoing decline in population size and increased habitat fragmentation. We investigated the phylogeographic patterns and examined the consistency between evolutionary units and assumed subspecies taxonomy in this species. Six populations across the whole species presenting a wide distribution range were sampled and two mitochondrial DNA segments (control region, CR and cytochrome b, cyt b) were used in this study. The results demonstrated a high level of genetic diversity (h = 0.97 in CR and 0.78 in cyt b) and significant differentiation among populations. Phylogenetic analyses strongly indicated two reciprocally monophyletic clades named the “West group” and “East group” that were not consistent with the present subspecies regional distribution. The divergence time between the two groups was estimated to be around 5.54 × 105–8.7 × 105 years ago, and the expansion times of the two groups were close (about 3 × 105 years ago), indicating the effect of glaciation in intraspecific differentiation. Based on the results of genetic analyses combined with geographic isolation and distinct population history, our findings suggest that two management units (MUs) should be defined in T. caboti for conservation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all staff in Wuyishan National NR (Jiangxi), Jiulianshan National NR and Wuyanling National NR, for their support in field work and sample collections. We also thank Li Li in Hunan Wildlife Rescue Center, Zuhao Huang in Jinggangshan University and Tailin Yu in Guangxi Normal University for the sample collections. This study was supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (no. 2008BAC39B05) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 30670289).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Lu Dong, Yue Sun, Ying Liu, Yanyun Zhang & Guangmei Zheng

  2. Center of Aviation Safety Technology, Civil Aviation Administration of China, 100028, Beijing, China

    Jie Zhang

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  1. Lu Dong
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Correspondence to Yanyun Zhang.

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Dong, L., Zhang, J., Sun, Y. et al. Phylogeographic patterns and conservation units of a vulnerable species, Cabot’s tragopan (Tragopan caboti), endemic to southeast China. Conserv Genet 11, 2231–2242 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-010-0108-6

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