Comparative population genetics of mimetic Heliconius butterflies in an endangered habitat; Brazil's Atlantic Forest.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Brazil's Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot endangered by severe habitat degradation and fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation is expected to reduce dispersal among habitat patches resulting in increased genetic differentiation among populations. Here we examined genetic diversity and differentiation among populations of two Heliconius butterfly species in the northern portion of Brazil's Atlantic Forest to estimate the potential impact of habitat fragmentation on population connectivity in butterflies with home-range behavior.

Results

We generated microsatellite, AFLP and mtDNA sequence data for 136 Heliconius erato specimens from eight collecting locations and 146 H. melpomene specimens from seven locations. Population genetic analyses of the data revealed

SUBMITTER: de Moura PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3035028 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature