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Complexity of biogeographic pattern in the endangered crayfish Austropotamobius italicus in northern Italy: molecular insights of conservation concern

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Abstract

The protection of freshwater biodiversity has become a priority task for conservation practices, as freshwater ecosystems host high levels of cryptic diversity, while also record similarly high rates of extinction. The Italian white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius italicus is an endemic freshwater crustacean, threatened by several anthropogenic impacts such as habitat fragmentation, pollution, invasion of exotics, and climate change. Previous phylogenetic studies conducted in Italy pointed out a complex phylogeographic framework for the species, with four different subspecies currently recognized. Conservation efforts, particularly when involving restocking and reintroduction, require a detailed knowledge of their population genetics. In this study we describe the genetic structure of A. italicus populations in northern Italy (Lombardy Alpine foothills and northern Apennines) by using the informative mitochondrial marker cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, in order to assess their current evolutionary diversity and past phylogeographic history from a conservation perspective. Our results contribute to the mapping of the contact area among A. i. carsicus and A. i. carinthiacus in the Orobie Larian Prealps. More interestingly, we highlight the existence of two deeply differentiated evolutionary lineages within A. i. carsicus, showing alternative phylogeographic patterns and past demographic trends. We propose to consider these two clades as distinct molecular operational taxonomic units for the conservation of this endangered crayfish.

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Acknowledgments

This study was partially supported by European Funds, through the Financial Instrument for the Environment (Life + 08 NAT/IT/000352—CRAINat), by ERSAF - Lombardia, by Fondazione Cariplo and Parco Adda Nord to D.G. and G.F.; and by the Italian Ministero Università e Ricerca (PRIN 2008) to P.G. We are grateful to T. Pagliani and F. Piccoli for providing the samples of A. i. meridionalis used to assess the phylogeny, and to the entire staff involved in the Life CRAINat project. Many thanks to E. Mazzarello for his valuable help to the lab work. Moreover, we thank three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell’Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Guido Bernini, Adriana Bellati, Daniela Ghia, Gianluca Fea, Roberto Sacchi, Pietro Angelo Nardi, Mauro Fasola & Paolo Galeotti

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica, Università del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”, Viale Teresa Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy

    Irene Pellegrino & Alessandro Negri

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  1. Guido Bernini
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  2. Adriana Bellati
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  3. Irene Pellegrino
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  5. Daniela Ghia
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  9. Mauro Fasola
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  10. Paolo Galeotti
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Correspondence to Daniela Ghia.

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Bernini, G., Bellati, A., Pellegrino, I. et al. Complexity of biogeographic pattern in the endangered crayfish Austropotamobius italicus in northern Italy: molecular insights of conservation concern. Conserv Genet 17, 141–154 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0767-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-015-0767-4

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