Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants
Abstract Loss of developmental stability can lead to deviations from bilateral symmetry (i.e. Fluctuating Asymmetry ‐ FA), and is thought to be caused by environmental and genetic factors associated with habitat loss and stress. Therefore, levels of FA might be a valuable tool to monitor wild popula...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7557 |
| _version_ | 1818457868695764992 |
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| author | Aldo Caccavo Hudson Lemos Luana S. Maroja Pablo Rodrigues Gonçalves |
| author_facet | Aldo Caccavo Hudson Lemos Luana S. Maroja Pablo Rodrigues Gonçalves |
| author_sort | Aldo Caccavo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Loss of developmental stability can lead to deviations from bilateral symmetry (i.e. Fluctuating Asymmetry ‐ FA), and is thought to be caused by environmental and genetic factors associated with habitat loss and stress. Therefore, levels of FA might be a valuable tool to monitor wild populations if FA serves as an indicator of exposure to stress due to impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation. In studies examining FA and habitat fragmentation, FA levels are often explained by loss of genetic variation, though few studies have addressed FA’s use as indicator of environmental impact. Here, we investigated whether habitat loss, genetic variation, and/or inbreeding affect the developmental instability in Brazilian Atlantic forest populations of a Neotropical water rat (Nectomys squamipes). We sampled individuals from eight sites within Atlantic forest remnants with different amounts of available forest habitat and assessed FA levels with geometric morphometric techniques using adult mandibles. We used observed heterozygosity (Ho) and inbreeding coefficient (Fis), from seven microsatellite markers, as a proxy of genetic variation at individual and population levels. Populations were not significantly different for shape or size FA levels. Furthermore, interindividual variation in both shape and size FA levels and interpopulational differences in size FA levels were best explained by chance. However, habitat amount was negatively associated with both interpopulational variance and average shape FA levels. This association was stronger in populations living in areas with <28% of forest cover, which presented higher variance and higher average FA, suggesting that Nectomys squamipes might have a tolerance threshold to small availability of habitat. Our work is one of the first to use FA to address environmental stress caused by habitat loss in small mammal populations from a Neotropical biome. We suggest that shape FA might serve as a conservation tool to monitor human impact on natural animal populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T22:49:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c26dbd40919646d4a1259df0dc6fa0dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T22:49:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-c26dbd40919646d4a1259df0dc6fa0dc2022-12-21T22:44:46ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-06-0111117080709210.1002/ece3.7557Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnantsAldo Caccavo0Hudson Lemos1Luana S. Maroja2Pablo Rodrigues Gonçalves3Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Conservação PPGCiAC ‐ Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Macaé BrazilPrograma de Pós‐Graduação em Ciências Ambientais e Conservação PPGCiAC ‐ Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Macaé BrazilDepartment of Biology Williams College Williamstown MA USAInstituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade NUPEM Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Macaé BrazilAbstract Loss of developmental stability can lead to deviations from bilateral symmetry (i.e. Fluctuating Asymmetry ‐ FA), and is thought to be caused by environmental and genetic factors associated with habitat loss and stress. Therefore, levels of FA might be a valuable tool to monitor wild populations if FA serves as an indicator of exposure to stress due to impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation. In studies examining FA and habitat fragmentation, FA levels are often explained by loss of genetic variation, though few studies have addressed FA’s use as indicator of environmental impact. Here, we investigated whether habitat loss, genetic variation, and/or inbreeding affect the developmental instability in Brazilian Atlantic forest populations of a Neotropical water rat (Nectomys squamipes). We sampled individuals from eight sites within Atlantic forest remnants with different amounts of available forest habitat and assessed FA levels with geometric morphometric techniques using adult mandibles. We used observed heterozygosity (Ho) and inbreeding coefficient (Fis), from seven microsatellite markers, as a proxy of genetic variation at individual and population levels. Populations were not significantly different for shape or size FA levels. Furthermore, interindividual variation in both shape and size FA levels and interpopulational differences in size FA levels were best explained by chance. However, habitat amount was negatively associated with both interpopulational variance and average shape FA levels. This association was stronger in populations living in areas with <28% of forest cover, which presented higher variance and higher average FA, suggesting that Nectomys squamipes might have a tolerance threshold to small availability of habitat. Our work is one of the first to use FA to address environmental stress caused by habitat loss in small mammal populations from a Neotropical biome. We suggest that shape FA might serve as a conservation tool to monitor human impact on natural animal populations.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7557developmental changeshabitat availabilityhuman impactsrodents |
| spellingShingle | Aldo Caccavo Hudson Lemos Luana S. Maroja Pablo Rodrigues Gonçalves Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants Ecology and Evolution developmental changes habitat availability human impacts rodents |
| title | Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants |
| title_full | Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants |
| title_fullStr | Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants |
| title_short | Does stress mess with rodents’ heads? Influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in South American water rats (Nectomys squamipes, Sigmodontinae) from Brazilian Atlantic rainforest remnants |
| title_sort | does stress mess with rodents heads influence of habitat amount and genetic factors in mandible fluctuating asymmetry in south american water rats nectomys squamipes sigmodontinae from brazilian atlantic rainforest remnants |
| topic | developmental changes habitat availability human impacts rodents |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7557 |
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