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Interspecific hybridization contributes to high genetic diversity and apparent effective population size in an endemic population of mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula maculosa)

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Abstract

Under drift-mutation equilibrium, genetic diversity is expected to be correlated with effective population size (N e ). Changes in population size and gene flow are two important processes that can cause populations to deviate from this expected relationship. In this study, we used DNA sequences from six independent loci to examine the influence of these processes on standing genetic diversity in endemic mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) and geographically widespread mallards (A. platyrhynchos), two species known to hybridize. Mottled ducks have an estimated census size that is about two orders-of-magnitude smaller than that of mallards, yet these two species have similar levels of genetic diversity, especially at nuclear DNA. Coalescent analyses suggest that a population expansion in the mallard at least partly explains this discrepancy, but the mottled duck harbors higher genetic diversity and apparent N e than expected for its census size even after accounting for a population decline. Incorporating gene flow into the model, however, reduced the estimated N e of mottled ducks to 33 % of the equilibrium N e and yielded an estimated N e consistent with census size. We also examined the utility of these loci to distinguish among mallards, mottled ducks, and their hybrids. Most putatively pure individuals were correctly assigned to species, but the power for detecting hybrids was low. Although hybridization with mallards potentially poses a conservation threat to mottled ducks by creating a risk of extinction by hybridization, introgression of mallard alleles has helped maintain high genetic diversity in mottled ducks and might be important for the adaptability and survival of this species.

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Acknowledgments

Shawn Houston provided high-performance computing through the University of Alaska’s Life Science Informatics Portal. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (Alaska EPSCoR EPS-0346770) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. J Pearce and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on drafts of this manuscript. Any use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement of the US Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 45435, USA

    Jeffrey L. Peters & Philip Lavretsky

  2. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Jeffrey L. Peters, Sarah A. Sonsthagen & Kevin G. McCracken

  3. United States Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA

    Sarah A. Sonsthagen

  4. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 10 Parks and Wildlife Dr., Port Arthur, TX, 77640, USA

    Michael Rezsutek

  5. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, PO Box 659, Canyon, TX, 79015, USA

    William P. Johnson

  6. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System, Division of Biological Sciences, West Texas A&M University, Box 60906, Canyon, TX, 79016, USA

    William P. Johnson

  7. Department of Biology and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA

    Kevin G. McCracken

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  1. Jeffrey L. Peters
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Peters, J.L., Sonsthagen, S.A., Lavretsky, P. et al. Interspecific hybridization contributes to high genetic diversity and apparent effective population size in an endemic population of mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula maculosa). Conserv Genet 15, 509–520 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-013-0557-9

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