TY - JOUR

T1 - Genetic erosion in habitat specialist shows need to protect large peat bogs

AU - Drees, Claudia

AU - Zumstein, Pascale

AU - Buck-Dobrick, Thorsten

AU - Härdtle, Werner

AU - Matern, Andrea

AU - Meyer, Hartmut

AU - Oheimb, Goddert

AU - Aßmann, Thorsten

PY - 2011/12

Y1 - 2011/12

N2 - The specialized fauna of peat bogs declines strongly both in species numbers and population density and becomes fragmented because of anthropogenic land use changes. We investigated 15 populations of the stenotopic ground beetle species Agonum ericeti in south Sweden to address the question of reduced genetic variability in populations inhabiting smaller habitat patches. Our results reveal a generally low differentiation and a significant positive relationship between habitat size and allelic richness.

AB - The specialized fauna of peat bogs declines strongly both in species numbers and population density and becomes fragmented because of anthropogenic land use changes. We investigated 15 populations of the stenotopic ground beetle species Agonum ericeti in south Sweden to address the question of reduced genetic variability in populations inhabiting smaller habitat patches. Our results reveal a generally low differentiation and a significant positive relationship between habitat size and allelic richness.

KW - Biology

KW - Allelic richness

KW - Allozyme

KW - Carabid

KW - Patch size

KW - Conservation biology

KW - Allelic richness

KW - Allozyme

KW - Carabid

KW - Conservation biology

KW - Patch size

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80855138043&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10592-011-0254-5

DO - 10.1007/s10592-011-0254-5

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 12

SP - 1651

EP - 1656

JO - Conservation Genetics

JF - Conservation Genetics

SN - 1566-0621

IS - 6

ER -