The effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small mammal

Zaiwei WANG; Amy MARTIN; Dianne BRUNTON; Cyril C. GRUETER; Jiapeng QU; Jin-Sheng HE; Weihong JI; Zhibiao NAN

doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12836

Integrative Zoology ›› 2025, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (3) : 586 -594. DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12836

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small mammal

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¹. State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro–ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China

². Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand

³. School of Natural Sciences (SNS), Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

⁴. Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

⁵. International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, China

⁶. Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

⁷. Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

⁸. Qinghai Province Key Laboratory of Animal Ecological Genomics, Xining, China

⁹. Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, China

jshe@pku.edu.cn

J.J.Weihong@massey.ac.nz

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Abstract

Grassland degradation is challenging the health of grassland ecosystems globally and causing biodiversity decline. Previous studies have demonstrated the impact of grassland degradation on the abundance and behavior of small mammals. Little is known about how it affects the genetic structure of gregarious mammals in the wild. This study explores the effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small burrowing mammal, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae). We used nine microsatellite loci to analyze the genetic diversity and genetic differentiation between colonies and genetic relatedness between individuals within the colony. We found that pikas in severely degraded grasslands had a significantly higher genetic diversity within colonies, a higher level of gene flow between colonies, and a lower genetic differentiation between colonies compared to pikas in less degraded grasslands. Individuals within colonies had a significantly lower genetic relatedness in severely degraded grasslands than in less degraded grasslands. This study has provided potential evidence of a significant impact of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of pikas, which has caused a breakdown of their kin-selected colony structure.

Keywords

genetic diversity / genetic structure / grassland degradation / plateau pika

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Zaiwei WANG, Amy MARTIN, Dianne BRUNTON, Cyril C. GRUETER, Jiapeng QU, Jin-Sheng HE, Weihong JI, Zhibiao NAN. The effects of grassland degradation on the genetic structure of a small mammal. Integrative Zoology, 2025, 20(3): 586-594 DOI:10.1111/1749-4877.12836