Geographically contrasting biodiversity reductions in a widespread New Zealand seabird

Unravelling prehistoric anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity represents a key challenge for biologists and archaeologists. New Zealand's endemic Stewart Island Shag (Leucocarbo chalconotus) comprises two distinct phylogeographic lineages, currently restricted to the country's south and so...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2015-09, Vol.24 (18), p.4605-4616
Main Authors: Rawlence, Nicolas J, Kennedy, Martyn, Anderson, Christian N. K, Prost, Stefan, Till, Charlotte E, Smith, Ian W. G, Scofield, R. Paul, Tennyson, Alan J. D, Hamel, Jill, Lalas, Chris, Matisoo‐Smith, Elizabeth A, Waters, Jonathan M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ancient DNA
Animals
anthropogenic activities
Bayes Theorem
Biodiversity
Biogeography
biologists
Birds
Birds - genetics
demography
DNA
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
extinction
Extinction, Biological
Fossils
Genetic Variation
human impact
Humans
Leucocarbo chalconotus
Likelihood Functions
megafauna
Models, Genetic
Molecular Sequence Data
New Zealand
overkill
Phylogeny
Phylogeography
Population Dynamics
radiocarbon dating
Radiometric Dating
seabird
seabirds
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Spatio-Temporal Analysis
Stewart Island Shag
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Summary:Unravelling prehistoric anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity represents a key challenge for biologists and archaeologists. New Zealand's endemic Stewart Island Shag (Leucocarbo chalconotus) comprises two distinct phylogeographic lineages, currently restricted to the country's south and southeast. However, fossil and archaeological remains suggest a far more widespread distribution at the time of Polynesian settlement ca. 1280 AD, encompassing much of coastal South Island. We used modern and ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating, and Bayesian modelling, to assess the impacts of human arrival on this taxon. Our analyses show that the southeast South Island (Otago) lineage was formerly widespread across coastal South Island, but experienced dramatic population extinctions, range retraction and lineage loss soon after human arrival. By comparison, the southernmost (Foveaux Strait) lineage has experienced a relatively stable demographic and biogeographic history since human arrival, retaining much of its mitochondrial diversity. Archaeological data suggest that these contrasting demographic histories (retraction vs. stability) reflect differential human impacts in mainland South Island vs. Foveaux Strait, highlighting the importance of testing for temporal and spatial variation in human‐driven faunal declines.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/mec.13338