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Conflict in outcomes for conservation based on population genetic diversity and genetic divergence approaches: a case study in the Japanese relictual conifer Sciadopitys verticillata (Sciadopityaceae)

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Abstract

A major goal of conservation genetics is to determine which specific populations are most crucial for in situ or ex situ conservation. Genetic divergence and diversity are the two foundations by which priorities for conservation are typically determined. However, these measures may be confounded when past bottlenecks reduce genetic diversity of populations but also lead to their divergence. This study examines the potential conflicts in population prioritization for a relictual Japanese endemic conifer, Sciadopitys verticillata using nuclear microsatellites. High genetic structuring at the nuclear level compared to many other conifers (Fst = 0.129) was observed across the species range along with significant differences in genetic diversity between southern and northern populations. Conflict among genetic diversity and divergence population prioritization methods was observed in populations at the southwestern range edge of Kyushu and Chugoku, which were the most genetically distinct but also harboured the lowest diversity (Kyushu, He = 0.288, Ar = 2.172, and Chugoku, He = 0.222, Ar = 2.010). These populations contained only a subset of the genetic diversity found in Central Honshu and the Kii Peninsula (Central Honshu, He = 0.347, Ar = 2.707 and the Kii Peninsula, He = 0.337, Ar = 2.683), suggesting a reduction in genetic diversity as a result of bottlenecks. To determine if these highly bottlenecked populations in southwestern Japan are on the trajectory to extinction, or, conversely, if they harbour important genetic variation that has been fixed at the southwestern edge of the species range, common garden experiments are recommended in the future.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank H. Ando, S. Harasawa, Y. Hatanaka, D. Kawase, T. Mizuno, L. Mizusawa, T. Oda, S. Sakaguchi, M. Suzuki, and Y. Yamazaki for assistance in the field, and K. Ohba for valuable advice on this study. We also thank Mizuno Tadakuni of the Wakayama prefecture government and Nakamori Yumiko of the Wakayama Prefecture Museum for help with sampling in Wakayama Prefecture. Lastly we also thank the Field Science Centre for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Kyushu University Forest- Seto Regional Forest Office, Kiso Regional Forest Office, Mima City Government Office and the Omogo Mountain Museum for sampling assistance and permission. This research was supported by a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science research fellowship awarded to JRPW and by the program of the Global Environmental Research of Japan (S-8), the Ministry of the Environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    James R. P. Worth

  2. Laboratory of Botany, Osaka Museum of Natural History, Nagai Park 1-23, Higashi-Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, 546-0034, Japan

    Masashi Yokogawa

  3. Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain

    Andrés Pérez-Figueroa

  4. Department of Forest Genetics, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan

    Yoshihiko Tsumura

  5. Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-8601, Japan

    Nobuhiro Tomaru

  6. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada

    Jasmine K. Janes

  7. Laboratory of Forest Biology, Division of Forest and Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Yuji Isagi

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  1. James R. P. Worth
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Correspondence to James R. P. Worth.

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Worth, J.R.P., Yokogawa, M., Pérez-Figueroa, A. et al. Conflict in outcomes for conservation based on population genetic diversity and genetic divergence approaches: a case study in the Japanese relictual conifer Sciadopitys verticillata (Sciadopityaceae). Conserv Genet 15, 1243–1257 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-014-0615-y

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