Abstract
Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) involves a series of steps that should be accomplished to determine the most cost-effective way to invest in conservation action. Although SCP has been usually applied at the species level (or hierarchically higher), it is possible to use alleles from molecular analyses at the population level as basic units for analyses. Here we demonstrate how SCP procedures can be used to establish optimum strategies for in situ and ex situ conservation of a single species, using Dipteryx alata (a Fabaceae tree species widely distributed and endemics to Brazilian Cerrado) as a case study. Data for the analyses consisted in 52 alleles from eight microsatellite loci coded for a total of 644 individual trees sampled in 25 local populations throughout species’ geographic range. We found optimal solutions in which seven local populations are the smallest set of local populations of D. alata that should be conserved to represent the known genetic diversity. Combining these several solutions allowed estimating the relative importance of the local populations for conserving all known alleles, taking into account the current land-use patterns in the region. A germplasm collection for this species already exists, so we also used SCP approach to identify the smallest number of populations that should be further collected in the field to complement the existing collection, showing that only four local populations should be sampled for optimizing the species ex situ representation. The initial application of the SCP methods to genetic data showed here can be a useful starting point for methodological and conceptual improvements and may be a first important step towards a comprehensive and balanced quantitative definition of conservation goals, shedding light to new possibilities for in situ and ex situ designs within species.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbitt RJF, Scott JM, Wilcove DS (2000) The geography of vulnerability: incorporating species geography and human development patterns into conservation planning. Biol Conserv 96:169–175. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00064-1
Araújo MB (2003) The coincidence of people and biodiversity in Europe. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 12:5–12. doi:10.1046/j.1466-822X.2003.00314.x
Balmford A, Moore JL, Brooks T, Burgess N, Hansen LA, Williams P, Rahbek C (2001) Conservation conflicts across Africa. Science 291:2616–2619. doi:10.1126/science.291.5513.2616
Brooks T, da Fonseca GAB, Rodrigues ASL (2004) Species, data, and conservation planning. Conserv Biol 18:1682–1688. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00457.x
Brooks TM, Mittermeier RA, Fonseca GAB, Da Gerlach J, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Mittermeier CG, Pilgrim JD, Rodrigues ASL (2006) Global biodiversity conservation priorities. Science 313:58–61. doi:10.1126/science.1127609
Cabeza M, Moilanen A (2001) Design of reserve networks and the persistence of biodiversity. Trends Ecol Evol 16:242–248. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(01)02125-5
Charlesworth D, Charlesworth B (1987) Inbreeding depression and its evolutionary consequences. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18:237–268. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.001321
Collevatti RG, Lima JS, Soares TN, Telles MPDC (2010) Spatial genetic structure and life history traits in Cerrado tree species: inferences for conservation. Nat Conservacao 8:54–59. doi:10.4322/natcon.00801008
Diniz-Filho JAF, Bini LM (2011) Geographical patterns in biodiversity: towards an integration of concepts and methods from genes to species diversity. Nat Conservacao 9(2):179–187. doi:10.4322/natcon.2011.023
Diniz-Filho JAF, Telles MPC (2002) Spatial autocorrelation analysis and the identification of operational units for conservation in continuous populations. Conserv Biol 16:924–935. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00295.x
Diniz-Filho JAF, Telles MPC (2006) Optimization procedures for establishing reserve networks for biodiversity conservation taking into account population genetic structure. Genet Mol Biol 29:207–214
Diniz-Filho JAF, Bini LM, Pinto MP, Rangel TFLVB, Carvalho P, Vieira SL, Bastos RP (2007a) Conservation biogeography of Anurans in Brazilian Cerrado. Biodivers Conserv 16:997–1008. doi:10.1007/s10531-006-9010-4
Diniz-Filho JAF, Nabout JC, Bini LM, Soares TN, Telles MPC, DeMarco P, Collevatti RG (2007b) Niche modeling and landscape genetics of Caryocar brasiliense (“Pequi” tree: Caryocaraceae) in Brazilian Cerrado: an integrative approach for evaluating central-peripheral population patterns. Tree Genet Genomes 5:617–627. doi:10.1007/s11295-009-0214-0
Epperson BK (2003) Geographical genetics. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Felfili JM, Ribeiro JF, Borges Filho HC, Vale AT (2004) Potencial econômico da biodiversidade do Cerrado: estádio atual e possibilidades de manejo sustentável dos recursos da flora. In: Aguiar LMS, Camargo AJA (eds) Cerrado: ecologia e caracterização. Embrapa Informação Tecnológica, Brasília, pp 17–40
Frankham R (2003) Genetics and conservation biology. C R Biol 326:22–29. doi:10.1016/S1631-0691(03)00023-4
Fraser DJ, Bernatchez L (2001) Adaptive evolutionary conservation: towards a unified concept for defining conservation units. Mol Ecol 10:2741–2752. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294X.2001.t01-1-01411.x
Goudet J (2002) FSTAT, a program to estimate and test gene diversities and fixation indices (version 2.9.3.2). Available from http://www.unil.ch/izea/softwares/fstat.html
Grelle CEV, Lorini ML, Pinto MP (2010) Reserve selection based on vegetation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Nat Conservacao 8:46–53. doi:10.4322/natcon.00801007
Kirkpatrick JB (1983) An iterative method for establishing priorities for the selection of nature reserves: an example from Tasmania. Biol Conserv 25:127–134. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(83)90056-3
Lemes P, Faleiro FAMV, Tessarolo G, Loyola RD (2011) Refinando dados espaciais para conservação da biodiversidade. Nat Conservacao 9:240–243. doi:10.4322/natcon.2011.032
Loyola RD, Oliveira-Santos LGR, Almeida-Neto M, Nogueira DM, Kubota U, Diniz-Filho JAF, Lewinsohn TM (2009) Integrating economic costs and biological traits into global conservation priorities for carnivores. Plos One 4(8):e6807. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006807
Loyola RD, Eizirik E, Machado RB, Aguiar LMS, Brito D, Grelle CEV (2011) Toward innovative integrated approaches for the conservation of mammals. Nat Conservaçao 9:1–6. doi:10.4322/natcon.2011.001
Margules CR, Pressey RL (2000) Systematic conservation planning. Nature 405:243–253. doi:10.1038/35012251
Margules CR, Sarkar S (2007) Systematic conservation planning. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
McCarthy MA, Thompson CJ, Possingham HP (2005) Theory for designing nature reserves for single species. Am Nat 165:250–257. doi:0003-0147/2005/16502-4046
Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Fonseca GAB, Kents J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858. doi:10.1038/35002501
Neel MC, Cummings MP (2003) Effectiveness of conservation targets in capturing genetic diversity. Conserv Biol 17:219–229. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01352.x
Possingham H, Ball I, Andelman S (2000) Mathematical methods for identifying representative reserve networks. In: Ferson S, Burgman M (eds) Quantitative methods for conservation biology. Springer, New York, pp 291–305
Pressey RL (2004) Conservation planning and biodiversity: assembling the best data for the job. Conserv Biol 18:1677–1681. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00434.x
Sarkar S, Illoldi-Rangel P (2010) Systematic conservation planning: an updated protocol. Nat Conservacao 8:19–26. doi:10.4322/natcon.00801003
Segelbacher G, Cushman SA, Epperson BK, Fortin M-J, Francois O, Hardy OJ, Holderegger R, Taberlet P, Waits LP, Manel S (2010) Applications of landscape genetics in conservation biology: concepts and challenges. Conserv Genet 11:375–385. doi:10.1007/s10592-009-0044-5
Soares TN, Chaves LJ, Telles MPD, Diniz-Filho JAF, Resende LV (2008) Spatial distribution of intrapopulational genetic variability in Dipteryx alata. Pesqui Agropecu Bras 43:1151–1158
Soares TN, Melo DB, Resende LV, Vianello RP, Chaves LJ, Collevatti RG, Telles MPC (2012) Development of microsatellite markers for the Neotropical tree species Dipteryx alata (Fabaceae). Am J Bot 99:e72–e73
Telles MPC, Diniz-Filho JAF, Bastos RP, Soares TN, Guimaraes LDH, Lima LP (2007) Landscape genetics of Physalaemus cuvieri in Brazilian Cerrado: correspondence between population structure and levels of human occupation and habitat loss. Biol Conserv 139:37–46. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.06.003
Weir BS, Cockerham CC (1984) Estimating F-statistics for the analysis of population structure. Evolution 38:1358–1370. doi:10.2307/2408641
Williams JC, Revelle CS, Levin SA (2004) Using mathematical optimization models to design nature reserves. Front Ecol Environ 2:98–105. doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0098:UMOMTD]2.0.CO;2
Acknowledgments
We thank two anonymous reviewers for suggestions that improved initial version of this manuscript. Our research program integrating macroecology and molecular ecology of plants and the DTI fellowship to G.O. has been continuously supported by several grants and fellowships to the research network GENPAC (Geographical Genetics and Regional Planning for natural resources in Brazilian Cerrado) from CNPq/MCT/CAPES (projects # 564717/2010-0 and 563624/2010-8) and by the “Núcleo de Excelência em Genética e Conservação de Espécies do Cerrado”—GECER (PRONEX/FAPEG/CNPq CP 07-2009). Field work has been supported by Systema Naturae Consultoria Ambiental LTDA. Work by J.A.F.D.-F., M.P.C.T., L.J.C., R.G.C. and R.D.L. have been continuously supported by productivity fellowships from CNPq, and work by D.B.M. and J.S.S. by fellowships by CAPES.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Diniz-Filho, J.A.F., Melo, D.B., de Oliveira, G. et al. Planning for optimal conservation of geographical genetic variability within species. Conserv Genet 13, 1085–1093 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-012-0356-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-012-0356-8