Population genetic structure and phylogeography of Southeast Asian flying foxes: Implications for conservation and disease ecology.

摘要

This dissertation examines the population genetic structure and phylogeography of large fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), commonly known as flying foxes, in Southeast Asia. The major conclusions are: (1) population genetic structure is significantly correlated with morphology (wing aspect ratio) across all bat species studied to date; (2) previously recognized subspecies limits in Pteropus vampyrus are not supported by molecular data, whereas, several subspecies of Pteropus hypomelanus are genetically distinct and may represent distinct species; (3) dispersal ability and wing aspect ratio both correlate with population genetic structure in P. vampyrus and P. hypomelanus, and lack of geographic structure in P. vampyrus is corroborated by satellite telemetry studies indicating high dispersal capabilities in this species; (4) phylogeographic patterns in P. vampyrus are best explained by limited geographic barriers to dispersal, high gene flow between populations, and large effective populations sizes; in contrast, P. hypomelanus has demarcated phylogeographic structure that is best explained by a pattern of vicariance with little gene flow between islands, oceanic distances (>200km) as a barrier to movement, and small effective population sizes on each island; (5) inferences of historical demography from DNA sequence data suggests that flying fox species have responded differently to past climatic changes in the region, and population expansions in P. vampyrus broadly coincide with an increase in land area on the Sunda Shelf during the last glacial maximum; (6) lack of population genetic structure and host specificity observed among ectoparasites (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) suggests high contact rates between fruit bat species in Southeast Asia—providing additional information about bat movement not evident from host genealogy alone. This study sheds light on the evolution and ecology of volant animals in the Indo-Malayan region; and has broad implications for species conservation and disease ecology—particularly, the ecology of emerging, zoonotic Henipaviruses.