Humans have been known to drastically alter the environment
that they are in and this usually has a negative impact for native species
living in the area. A recent study sought to examine changes in genetic
diversity within two species of gorillas, whose habitats have been altered due
to human activity. Using both museum and modern fecal samples, they looked at
over 100 complete mitochondrial genomes. The results showed that there was a
significant decline in haplotype and nucleotide diversity when comparing modern
samples to the historic ones. Furthermore, this decline in diversity has been
attributed to the loss of the peripheral populations (ones most impact by
anthropogenic pressures) rather than the core range of the species. This study
shows the importance of species conservation and preservation as it has been
studied that genetic diversity is important for a species long-term survival
and with the genetic diversity of gorilla’s declining, it makes it all the more
vital for increase conservation efforts.
The article can be found in Nature here
Sam
(Nature review 3/3)
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