A recent study by scientists from NUS revealed that the current biodiversity crisis may be much broader than widely assumed, and may affect even species thought to be common and tolerant of fragmentation and habitat loss.
A recent study by scientists from NUS revealed that the current biodiversity crisis may be much broader than widely assumed, and may affect even species thought to be common and tolerant of fragmentation and habitat loss.
Specifically, the research team found that the effective population size and genetic diversity of a common fruit bat species — the Sunda fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) — that was believed to remain widely unaffected by urbanisation, has shrunk significantly over the last 90 years. By comparing historic DNA from museum samples collected in 1931 and modern samples collected in 2011 and 2012, the NUS team found a nearly 30-fold reduction in effective population size and corresponding levels of decline in genetic diversity estimates.
“This bat species carries a genomic signature of a steep breakdown in population-genetic diversity. The extreme bottleneck event that led to a reduction in genetic diversity happened some time in the early Anthropocene (around the 1940s) when humans’ impact on this planet became dominant,” explained first author Dr Balaji Chattopadhyay, who recently finished a postdoctoral fellowship at NUS Biological Sciences.
Read more at National University of Singapore
Image: Cynopterus brachyotis is a common tropical fruit bat species in Singapore that was believed to be widely unaffected by urbanisation. However, NUS researchers have found that its genetic diversity has shrunk significantly over the last 90 years. CREDIT: ©2013 Simon J. Tonge
