ERS3769517
SRA accession
Regent honeyeater
common name
Regent honeyeater museum specimen from the American Museum of Natural History 18
description
Australia
geographic location (country and/or sea)
St. Marys
geographic location (region and locality)
-33.76,150.783
lat lon
polygamy
mating type
Anthochaera phrygia
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NCBITaxon_2020318
organism
Anthochaera phrygia
scientific name
Female
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000383
sex
AMNH_691824
specimen voucher
Uncovering the population genetic histories of non-model organisms is increasingly possible through advances in next generation sequencing and DNA sampling of museum specimens. This new information can inform conservation of threatened species, particularly those for which historical and contemporary population data are unavailable or challenging to obtain. The critically endangered, nomadic regent honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia was abundant and widespread throughout south-eastern Australia prior to a rapid population decline and range contraction since the 1970s. A current estimated population of 250-400 individuals is distributed sparsely across 600,000 km2 from northern Victoria to southern Queensland. Using hybridization RAD (hyRAD) techniques, we obtained 3,524 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms from 64 museum specimens (date 1879-1960), 102 ‘recent’ (1989-2012) and 52 ‘current’ (2015-2016) wild birds sampled throughout the historical and contemporary range. We aimed to estimate population genetic structure, genetic diversity and population size of the regent honeyeater prior to its rapid decline. We then assessed the impact of the decline on recent and current population size, structure and genetic diversity. We found low population structure in the remaining regent honeyeater population, which appears to be a consequence of the species’ life-history, rather than population decline and range contraction. Population decline has led to minimal but detectable loss of genetic diversity since the 1980’s. Capacity to quantify the overall magnitude of both genetic diversity loss and population decline was limited by the poorer quality of genomic data derived from museum specimens. We discuss the implications for genetic management of endangered mobile species and enhancing the value of museum specimens in population genomic studies.
submission description
GSB-1217
submission identifier
Genomic impact of severe population decline in a nomadic songbird
submission title
Toe pad
tissue type