ORCID Profile
0000-0001-8085-9293
Current Organisation
Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 16-05-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.15.066662
Abstract: Paleoclimate reconstructions have enhanced our understanding of how past climates may have shaped present-day bio ersity. We hypothesize that habitat stability in historical Afrotropical refugia played a major role in the habitat suitability and persistence of chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) during the late Quaternary. We aimed to build a dynamic model of changing habitat suitability for chimpanzees at fine spatio-temporal scales to provide a new resource for understanding their ecology, behaviour and evolution. Afrotropics. Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ), including all four subspecies ( P. t. verus, P. t. ellioti, P. t. troglodytes, P. t. schweinfurthii ). We used downscaled bioclimatic variables representing monthly temperature and precipitation estimates, historical human population density data and an extensive database of georeferenced presence points to infer chimpanzee habitat suitability at 62 paleoclimatic time periods across the Afrotropics based on ensemble species distribution models. We mapped habitat stability over time using an approach that accounts for dispersal between time periods, and compared our modelled stability estimates to existing knowledge of Afrotropical refugia. Our models cover a spatial resolution of 0.0467 degrees (approximately 5.19 km 2 grid cells) and a temporal resolution of every 1,000–4,000 years dating back to the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP). Our results show high habitat stability concordant with known historical forest refugia across Africa, but suggest that their extents are underestimated for chimpanzees. We provide the first fine-grained dynamic map of historical chimpanzee habitat suitability since the Last Interglacial which is suspected to have influenced a number of ecological-evolutionary processes, such as the emergence of complex patterns of behavioural and genetic ersity. We provide a novel resource that can be used to reveal spatio-temporally explicit insights into the role of refugia in determining chimpanzee behavioural, ecological and genetic ersity. This methodology can be applied to other taxonomic groups and geographic areas where sufficient data are available.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JBI.13101
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-09-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-08-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S10592-020-01299-X
Abstract: Translocation is an increasingly common component of species conservation efforts. However, translocated populations often suffer from loss of genetic ersity and increased inbreeding, and thus may require active management to establish gene flow across isolated populations. Assisted gene flow can be laborious and costly, so recipient and source populations should be carefully chosen to maximise genetic ersity outcomes. The greater stick-nest rat (GSNR, Leporillus conditor ), a threatened Australian rodent, has been the focus of a translocation program since 1985, resulting in five extant translocated populations (St Peter Island, Reevesby Island, Arid Recovery, Salutation Island and Mt Gibson), all derived from a remnant wild population on the East and West Franklin Islands. We evaluated the genetic ersity in all extant GSNR populations using a large single nucleotide polymorphism dataset with the explicit purpose of informing future translocation planning. Our results show varying levels of genetic ergence, inbreeding and loss of genetic ersity in all translocated populations relative to the remnant source on the Franklin Islands. All translocated populations would benefit from supplementation to increase genetic ersity, but two—Salutation Island and Mt Gibson—are of highest priority. We recommend a targeted admixture approach, in which animals for supplementation are sourced from populations that have low relatedness to the recipient population. Subject to assessment of contemporary genetic ersity, St Peter Island and Arid Recovery are the most appropriate source populations for genetic supplementation. Our study demonstrates an effective use of genetic surveys for data-driven management of threatened species.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1071/ZO14031
Abstract: The endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) has been monitored via remote s ling and genetic techniques since 2000, thus avoiding the detrimental effects on the animals of trapping and increasing the precision of abundance estimates. The currently available dinucleotide microsatellite markers used for this task are prone to stutter and other polymerase chain reaction artefacts, making allele calling difficult, and requiring costly duplication to ensure accuracy. To remedy this we have developed eight new tri- and tetranucleotide microsatellite markers that reduce the problem of stutter in DNA analysis. These new markers, along with three of the existing markers (two microsatellites and the SRY gender marker) were optimised in a single multiplex reaction that will reduce the time and cost of future northern hairy-nosed wombat hair censuses. We tested this new multiplex on 277 non-invasively collected hairs. One locus was rejected due to null-allele issues. The remaining nine microsatellite loci had two or three alleles. Genotype frequencies in the s le of detected in iduals did not differ significantly from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and there was no evidence of linkage disequilibrium. This new multiplex provides comparable power to distinguish in iduals, fewer issues with stutter artefacts and a reduced time and cost of analysis. It will be useful for future population censuses and long-term monitoring of in iduals once they have been scored in previously genotyped and assigned s les.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 2018
Abstract: The last large marsupial carnivores—the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilis harrisii ) and thylacine ( Thylacinus cynocephalus )—went extinct on mainland Australia during the mid-Holocene. Based on the youngest fossil dates (approx. 3500 years before present, BP), these extinctions are often considered synchronous and driven by a common cause. However, many published devil dates have recently been rejected as unreliable, shifting the youngest mainland fossil age to 25 500 years BP and challenging the synchronous-extinction hypothesis. Here we provide 24 and 20 new ages for devils and thylacines, respectively, and collate existing, reliable radiocarbon dates by quality-filtering available records. We use this new dataset to estimate an extinction time for both species by applying the Gaussian-res led, inverse-weighted McInerney (GRIWM) method. Our new data and analysis definitively support the synchronous-extinction hypothesis, estimating that the mainland devil and thylacine extinctions occurred between 3179 and 3227 years BP.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1071/MU14076
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-08-2021
DOI: 10.1002/AJP.23320
Abstract: Paleoclimate reconstructions have enhanced our understanding of how past climates have shaped present‐day bio ersity. We hypothesize that the geographic extent of Pleistocene forest refugia and suitable habitat fluctuated significantly in time during the late Quaternary for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ). Using bioclimatic variables representing monthly temperature and precipitation estimates, past human population density data, and an extensive database of georeferenced presence points, we built a model of changing habitat suitability for chimpanzees at fine spatio‐temporal scales dating back to the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP). Our models cover a spatial resolution of 0.0467° (approximately 5.19 km 2 grid cells) and a temporal resolution of between 1000 and 4000 years. Using our model, we mapped habitat stability over time using three approaches, comparing our modeled stability estimates to existing knowledge of Afrotropical refugia, as well as contemporary patterns of major keystone tropical food resources used by chimpanzees, figs (Moraceae), and palms (Arecacae). Results show habitat stability congruent with known glacial refugia across Africa, suggesting their extents may have been underestimated for chimpanzees, with potentially up to approximately 60,000 km 2 of previously unrecognized glacial refugia. The refugia we highlight coincide with higher species richness for figs and palms. Our results provide spatio‐temporally explicit insights into the role of refugia across the chimpanzee range, forming the empirical foundation for developing and testing hypotheses about behavioral, ecological, and genetic ersity with additional data. This methodology can be applied to other species and geographic areas when sufficient data are available.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 04-2017
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.170053
Abstract: Today, the Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) is found only on the island of Tasmania, despite once being widespread across mainland Australia. While the devil is thought to have become extinct on the mainland approximately 3000 years ago, three specimens were collected in Victoria (south-eastern Australia) between 1912 and 1991, raising the possibility that a relict mainland population survived in the area. Alternatively, these devils may have escaped captivity or were deliberately released after being transported from Tasmania, a practice that has been strictly controlled since the onset of devil facial tumour disease in the early 1990s. Such quarantine regimes are important to protect disease-free, ‘insurance populations’ in zoos on the mainland. To test whether the three Victorian devils were members of a relict mainland population or had been recently transported from Tasmania we identified seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the mitochondrial genome that can distinguish between Tasmanian and ancient mainland populations. The three Victorian devil specimens have the same seven SNPs diagnostic of modern Tasmanian devils, confirming that they were most likely transported from Tasmania and do not represent a remnant population of mainland devils.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 20-04-2019
Abstract: Large-scale genomic studies of wild animal populations are often limited by access to high-quality DNA. Although noninvasive s les, such as faeces, can be readily collected, DNA from the s le producers is usually present in low quantities, fragmented, and contaminated by microorganism and dietary DNAs. Hybridization capture can help to overcome these impediments by increasing the proportion of subject DNA prior to high-throughput sequencing. Here we evaluate a key design variable for hybridization capture, the number of rounds of capture, by testing whether one or two rounds are most appropriate, given varying s le quality (as measured by the ratios of subject to total DNA). We used a set of 1,780 quality-assessed wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) faecal s les and chose 110 s les of varying quality for exome capture and sequencing. We used multiple regression to assess the effects of the ratio of subject to total DNA (s le quality), rounds of capture and sequencing effort on the number of unique exome reads sequenced. We not only show that one round of capture is preferable when the proportion of subject DNA in a s le is above ~2%-3%, but also explore various types of bias introduced by capture, and develop a model that predicts the sequencing effort necessary for a desired data yield from s les of a given quality. Thus, our results provide a useful guide and pave a methodological way forward for researchers wishing to plan similar hybridization capture studies.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2023
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.17119
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1071/AM20030
Abstract: The critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) currently exists at only two locations in Queensland. Management, research and monitoring of the species at the main Epping Forest National Park (Scientific) population has occurred over the last four decades using a variety of tools, with the most complete dataset being provided by burrow activity monitoring over that period. Following a series of trap-based surveys in the 1980s and 1990s, wombat monitoring has employed DNA profiling of hairs collected remotely on sticky tape set at burrow entrances (since 2000), and passive infrared (PIR) cameras (since 2011). These techniques have produced a wealth of new information on the species. Using this new information, we aim to: (1) summarise the available demographic data and present new estimates using novel techniques for L. krefftii at Epping Forest NP and (2) characterise reproductive patterns and their relationship with environmental factors for L. krefftii at Epping Forest NP. We find an ongoing increase in the population size at Epping Forest National Park, supported by healthy levels of reproduction despite periods of poor environmental conditions, notwithstanding the finding that cumulative monthly rainfall six months prior to s ling influenced birth rates. This trend suggests that the population will likely reach carrying capacity in the near future. It is timely to harvest the population to provide founders to a new site to establish an additional population, which will also reduce the risk of extinction and help secure the future of the species.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-08-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ACV.12812
Abstract: Translocation is becoming an increasingly important approach to threatened species conservation. Coupled with the knowledge that maximizing genetic ersity aids population establishment, the growing use of translocations can place unsustainable harvesting pressure on critical and vulnerable source populations. However, adaptive, genetically informed modelling tools such as Population Viability Analysis (PVA) can be used to predict translocation outcomes and optimize harvesting strategies. In this study, we use PVAs for the frequently translocated greater stick‐nest rat ( Leporillus conditor ) to demonstrate the value of admixing founder populations for translocation, even when one source population is deemed genetically depauperate. This approach not only maximizes genetic ersity in the translocated population but reduces harvesting pressure on critical populations. Further, we show that admixed harvesting ratios can be skewed significantly towards the genetically depauperate population in order to further protect the critical population while still producing favourable outcomes, providing adequate founder numbers are used. As many threatened species are limited to fragmented and bottlenecked populations, these results are broadly applicable to the science of reintroduction biology, and demonstrate the value of PVAs for preliminary translocation planning and species management.
Publisher: Briefland
Date: 23-12-2015
DOI: 10.5812/IJP.3906
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-1996
Location: Australia
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Lauren White.