Abstract
Glyptemys insculpta is considered to be one of the most endangered freshwater turtles in North America. Here microsatellite markers were employed to investigate the genetic variation and population structure of G. insculpta at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (USA). Seven microsatellites revealed high allelic variation with 13–30 alleles per locus. Observed and expected heterozygosities per locus ranged from 0.875–0.925 to 0.888–0.952, respectively. Pairwise estimates of population structure (θ) ranged from 0.000–0.013 to θ estimated over all loci and aggregations was not significantly different from zero. Gene flow (Nm) was high and ranged from 19 migrants per generation to infinity in pairwise comparisons. No significant relationship between geographic distance and genetic distance was detected. These data indicate that G. insculpta at DEWA represent a single, genetically diverse management unit for conservation.
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Acknowledgments
We thank M. Stepek, S. Boder, B. Madden, T. Crockett, and D. Wood for providing field assistance; T. King of the United States Geological Survey for supplying primer sets used for DNA amplifications; and D. Burney, M. Hoehn, N. Aitken, and K. Mikac for providing suggestions on the manuscript. We are grateful to R. DeSalle for granting access to the Molecular Systematics Laboratory at the American Museum of Natural History, and to S. Glaberman and M. Lesley for their generous technical support. Funding was provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society Species Survival Fund and the National Park Service. Permits obtained through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Fish and Wildlife (SC 21019), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the National Park Service (DEWA-2001-SCI-015) allowed the handling of animals and the collection of blood samples. The animals were managed in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Fordham University.
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John L. Behler, Deceased.
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Castellano, C.M., Behler, J.L. & Amato, G. Genetic diversity and population genetic structure of the Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, USA. Conserv Genet 10, 1783–1788 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-008-9743-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-008-9743-6