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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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Boom-bust population dynamics drive rapid genetic change.

Emily J Stringer1, Bernd Gruber1, Stephen D Sarre1

  • 1Centre for Conservation Ecology and Genomics, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Canberra ACT 2617, Australia.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|April 15, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Australian arid zone mammals show contrasting strategies for maintaining genetic diversity despite environmental fluctuations. One species conserves diversity via stable populations, while another recovers it through rapid genetic mixing during population booms.

Keywords:
contemporary evolutiongenetic diversitypopulation fluctuationspopulation geneticssingle nucleotide polymorphisms

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Environmental changes and extreme perturbations threaten species, leading to population declines and loss of genetic diversity.
  • Australia's arid zone experiences severe population fluctuations, yet some species persist and maintain genetic diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate the genetic consequences of repeated population fluctuations in two Australian arid zone small mammals.
  • Understand how genetic diversity is maintained in highly variable environments.

Main Methods:

  • Repeated population sampling over 13 years.
  • Genotype-by-sequencing of 1903 individuals.
  • Analysis of heterozygosity and population differentiation (FST).

Main Results:

  • The sandy inland mouse (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis) showed decreased heterozygosity and increased FST during population busts, with rapid restoration during booms.
  • The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis youngsoni) maintained stable population sizes and showed no linear declines in heterozygosity.
  • Two contrasting mechanisms of genetic diversity maintenance were identified.

Conclusions:

  • Species in variable environments can maintain genetic diversity through stable population sizes or rapid genetic mixing during population recovery.
  • Pseudomys hermannsburgensis conserves diversity through rapid genetic mixing, while Sminthopsis youngsoni does so by maintaining stable populations.