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An extended mtDNA phylogeography for the alpine newt illuminates the provenance of introduced populations

Robbemont, Jody, van Veldhuijzen, Sam, Allain, Steven J. R., Ambu, Johanna, Boyle, Ryan, Canestrelli, Daniele, Cathasaigh, Éinne Ó, Cathrine, Chris, Chiocchio, Andrea, Cogalniceanu, Dan, and others. (2023) An extended mtDNA phylogeography for the alpine newt illuminates the provenance of introduced populations. Amphibia-Reptilia, 44 (3). pp. 347-361. ISSN 1568-5381. (doi:10.1163/15685381-bja10144) (KAR id:102428)

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Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-bja10144

Abstract

Many herpetofauna species have been introduced outside of their native range. MtDNA barcoding is regularly used to determine the provenance of such populations. The alpine newt has been introduced across the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, geographical mtDNA structure across the natural range of the alpine newt is still incompletely understood and certain regions are severely undersampled. We collect mtDNA sequence data of over seven hundred individuals, from both the native and the introduced range. The main new insights from our extended mtDNA phylogeography are that 1) haplotypes from Spain do not form a reciprocally monophyletic clade, but are nested inside the mtDNA clade that covers western and eastern Europe; and 2) haplotypes from the northwest Balkans form a monophyletic clade together with those from the Southern Carpathians and Apuseni Mountains. We also home in on the regions where the distinct mtDNA clades meet in nature. We show that four out of the seven distinct mtDNA clades that comprise the alpine newt are implicated in the introductions in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Ireland. In several introduced localities, two distinct mtDNA clades co-occur. As these mtDNA clades presumably represent cryptic species, we urge that the extent of genetic admixture between them is assessed from genome-wide nuclear DNA markers. We mobilized a large number of citizen scientists in this project to support the collection of DNA samples by skin swabbing and underscore the effectiveness of this sampling technique for mtDNA barcoding.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1163/15685381-bja10144
Uncontrolled keywords: Animal science and zoology, ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Funders: Slovenian Research Agency (https://ror.org/059bp8k51)
National Research, Development and Innovation Office (https://ror.org/03g2am276)
SWORD Depositor: JISC Publications Router
Depositing User: JISC Publications Router
Date Deposited: 24 Aug 2023 14:29 UTC
Last Modified: 24 Aug 2023 14:31 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/102428 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)
Robbemont, Jody: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7111-5110
van Veldhuijzen, Sam: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3641-071X
Allain, Steven J. R.: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5669-0149
Ambu, Johanna: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-7677
Canestrelli, Daniele: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9351-4972
Cathasaigh, Éinne Ó: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8027-0905
Cathrine, Chris: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2069-7320
Chiocchio, Andrea: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0067-7025
Cogalniceanu, Dan: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2959-014X
Dufresnes, Christophe: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8497-8908
Ennis, Collie: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8714-9793
Gandola, Rob: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0550-1707
Jablonski, Daniel: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5394-0114
Kranželić, Daria: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6291-0593
Lukanov, Simeon: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2546-6590
Martínez-Solano, Iñigo: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2260-226X
North, Alexandra: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2942-3467
Pabijan, Maciej: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5557-2338
Pushendorf, Robert: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8105-171X
Salvi, Daniele: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3804-2690
Schmidt, Bruno: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3544-4739
Sotiropoulos, Konstantinos: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3622-7907
Stanescu, Florina: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6872-664X
Stanković, David: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3312-382X
Šunje, Emina: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-8545
Vacheva, Emiliya: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3008-6648
Meilink, Willem R.M.: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4451-1779
Theodoropoulos, Anagnostis: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0272-6358
de Visser, Manon C.: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3681-6151
Wielstra, Ben: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7112-5965
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