Megafaunal extinctions, not climate change, may explain Holocene genetic diversity declines in Numenius shorebirds.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the relative contributions of historical and anthropogenic factors to declines in genetic diversity is important for informing conservation action. Using genome-wide DNA of fresh and historic specimens, including that of two species widely thought to be extinct, we investigated fluctuations in genetic diversity and present the first complete phylogenomic tree for all nine species of the threatened shorebird genus Numenius, known as whimbrels and curlews. Most species faced sharp declines in effective population size, a proxy for genetic diversity, soon after the Last Glacial Maximum (around 20,000 years ago). These declines occurred prior to the Anthropocene and in spite of an increase in the breeding area predicted by environmental niche modeling, suggesting that they

SUBMITTER: Tan HZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10406428 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature