Inbreeding and extinction in a butterfly metapopulation

被引:1253
作者
Saccheri, I
Kuussaari, M
Kankare, M
Vikman, P
Fortelius, W
Hanski, I
机构
[1] Univ Helsinki, Dept Ecol & Systemat, Div Populat Biol, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland
[2] Univ Helsinki, Tvarminne Zool Stn, Hanko 10900, Finland
关键词
D O I
10.1038/33136
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
It has been proposed that inbreeding contributes to the decline and eventual extinction of small and isolated populations(1,2), There is ample evidence of fitness reduction due to inbreeding (inbreeding depression) in captivity(3-7) and from a few experimental(8,9) and observational field studies(10,11), but no field studies on natural populations have been conducted to test the proposed effect on extinction, It has been argued that in natural populations the impact of inbreeding depression on population survival will be insignificant in comparison to that of demographic and environmental stochasticity(12,13). We have now studied the effect of inbreeding on local extinction in a large metapopulation(14) of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia)(15). We found that extinction risk increased significantly with decreasing heterozygosity, an indication of inbreeding(6), even after accounting for the effects of the relevant ecological factors, Larval survival, adult longevity and egg-hatching rate were found to be adversely affected by inbreeding and appear to be the fitness components underlying the relationship between inbreeding and extinction. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an effect of inbreeding on the extinction of natural populations. Our results are particularly relevant to the increasing number of species with small local populations due to habitat loss and fragmentation(16).
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页码:491 / 494
页数:4
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