Avaliação da diversidade e estrutura genética de Micoureus paraguayanus (Didelphidae) através do marcador mitocondrial d-loop no Parque Estadual Morro do Diabo e em fragmentos de Mata Atlântica adjacentes

Abstract

The dynamics of use of land in urban and agricultural areas has led to destruction and fragmentation of ecosystems. It has been related to the increase of susceptibility of natural populations to extinction due to increase of isolation between populations and reduction of population size. To evaluate the effect of the recent habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of natural populations, we will analyze the diversity and genetic structure of populations of the wooly mouse opossum Micoureus paraguayanus (Marsupialia: Didelphimorphia) in the Parque Estadual Morro do Diabo (SP) and in bush fragments in its surroundings. For this purpose, we used the control region (D-Loop) to examine population structure and dynamics in fragmented forest habitats. We found low values of haplotypic and nucleotidic diversity when compared to values from previous works with marsupials in fragmented areas. We found values of diversity of 0.28 and 0.0022% respectively. Besides that, there was a correlation between continuous cultivated lands distance and number of exclusives haplotypes. The AMOVA test showed no genetic structure between fragments, however, Fst values indicated significant genetic differentiation to Santa Tereza and Ponte Branca when compared with all the others fragments. These are between the smallest areas evaluated in this study and the differentiation indicates that the recent fragmentation suffered by these patches could be responsible for the changes in the genetic composition of these populations.