Comparative mtDNA analyses of three sympatric macropodids from a conservation area on the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Matschie’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei), New Guinea pademelon (Thylogale browni), and small dorcopsis (Dorcopsulus vanheurni) are sympatric macropodid taxa, of conservation concern, that inhabit the Yopno–Urawa–Som (YUS) Conservation Area on the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. We sequenced three partial mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes from the three taxa to (i) investigate network structure; and (ii) identify conservation units within the YUS Conservation Area. All three taxa displayed a similar pattern in the spatial distribution of their mtDNA haplotypes and the Urawa and Som rivers on the Huon may have acted as a barrier to maternal gene flow. Matschie’s tree kangaroo and New Guinea pademelon within the YUS Conservation Area should be managed as single conservation units because mtDNA nucleotides were not fixed for a given geographic area. However, two distinct conservation units were identified for small dorcopsis from the two different mountain ranges within the YUS Conservation Area.

• Conservation unit
• endangered species
• fecal samples
• Matschie’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei)
• New Guinea pademelon (Thylogale browni)
• small dorcopsis (Dorcopsulus vanheurni)

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Rand Herron, Jane Rameika, Matthew Coffin, Andrew DiMateo, and Melissa Fontaine for processing fecal samples. The authors also thank William Betz, Peter Clark, Dr. Phillip Leahy, Kasbeth Evei, Mambawe Manaono, Gabriel Porolak, Joel Glick, the villages of Keweng, Teptep, Yawan, Towet, and all other villages in the YUS Local Level Government, the field teams, PNG Department of Environment and Conservation, PNG National Research Institute, Stacia Martin, and Susan O’Neil for sample collection and logistics. The Rhode Island Zoological Society, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Woodland Park Zoological Gardens, and Association of Zoos and Aquariums provided funding, while New England Biolabs supplied PCR primers. The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program collected all samples under Dr. Lisa Dabek’s research visa in accordance with PNG Department of Environment and Conservation’s rules and regulations, along with PNG Department of Environment and Conservation and Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES) export permits.

Declaration of interest

The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest. This research is based in part upon work conducted using the Rhode Island Genomics and Sequencing Center, which is supported in part by the National Science Foundation (MRI Grant no. DBI-0215393 and EPSCoR Grant no. 0554548), the US Department of Agriculture (Grant nos. 2002-34438-12688 and 2003-34438-13111), and the University of Rhode Island.