Variability, Drivers, and Utility of Genetic Diversity-Area Relationships in Terrestrial Vertebrates

Area of Science:

• Conservation Biology
• Population Genetics
• Biodiversity Science

Background:

• Maintaining genetic diversity is vital for species survival and conservation goals.
• Estimating genetic diversity is challenging due to data limitations and time constraints.
• The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework highlights the need for genetic diversity assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Genetic Diversity Area Relationship (GDAR) as a proxy for predicting genetic diversity loss.
• To assess the variability and influencing factors of GDARs across species.
• To compare the predictive accuracy of GDARs using different genetic diversity metrics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 55 published datasets from 51 species to estimate genetic diversity metrics against sample area.
• Analyzed relationships between genetic diversity and geographic area (GDARs).
• Investigated the influence of population structure and species traits on GDARs.

Main Results:

• GDARs exhibited high variability across species and were significantly influenced by population structure.
• Species traits related to population structure and area explained 35%-45% of GDAR variation.
• GDARs derived from allele count showed higher prediction accuracy than those from allelic richness or gene diversity.

Conclusions:

• GDARs provide a viable proxy for predicting genetic diversity loss in data-deficient scenarios.
• Refining taxon-specific GDARs can improve predictions of genetic diversity loss due to habitat area reduction.
• This approach aids in meeting conservation targets despite data gaps.