Fuller S J, Mather P B, Wilson J C
School of Life Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Heredity (Edinb). 1996 Aug;77 ( Pt 2):138-45. doi: 10.1038/hdy.1996.118.
A systems approach is necessary for effective control of feral rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) populations in the arid environments of Australia. Localized control procedures may result in local extinctions, but the persistence of the overall population will depend on the probability of recolonization, and hence, the degree of isolation of each local population unit. Genetic markers obtained using allozyme electrophoresis, temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and heteroduplex analysis (HA) were used to characterize the degree of structuring and extent of gene flow among rabbit populations in arid Queensland, Australia. Allozyme allele frequency data showed that there was no significant differentiation among sites (average FST = 0.005) and no isolation-by-distance or environmental discontinuity effects. TGGE/HA results also revealed no significant differentiation in mitochondrial DNA Control Region haplotype frequencies among sites and low interpopulation nucleotide divergence estimates (NST = 0.013). Therefore, rabbit populations exhibited a high degree of gene flow over large geographical areas (1600 km2) and were essentially a single panmictic unit. Unpredictable environmental conditions together with the spatial configuration of habitats which possess different probabilities of extinction may have resulted in repeated local extinctions followed by recolonization and homogenizing gene flow. These data suggest that current rabbit control strategies based on individual warren management may not achieve effective control in arid Queensland.
采用系统方法对于有效控制澳大利亚干旱环境中的野生兔（穴兔）种群至关重要。局部控制措施可能导致局部灭绝，但总体种群的持续存在将取决于重新定殖的概率，进而取决于每个局部种群单元的隔离程度。利用等位酶电泳、温度梯度凝胶电泳（TGGE）和异源双链分析（HA）获得的遗传标记，来表征澳大利亚昆士兰干旱地区兔种群之间的结构程度和基因流动范围。等位酶等位基因频率数据表明，各地点之间没有显著分化（平均FST = 0.005），也没有距离隔离或环境间断效应。TGGE/HA结果还显示，各地点之间线粒体DNA控制区单倍型频率没有显著分化，种群间核苷酸差异估计值较低（NST = 0.013）。因此，兔种群在大面积地理区域（1600平方公里）内表现出高度的基因流动，基本上是一个单一的随机交配单元。不可预测的环境条件以及具有不同灭绝概率的栖息地空间配置，可能导致了反复的局部灭绝，随后是重新定殖和使基因流动同质化。这些数据表明，目前基于单个洞穴管理的兔控制策略在昆士兰干旱地区可能无法实现有效控制。
