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Genetic Approaches To Population Ecology And Conservation Of The Sacramento Mountain Salamander, Samantha Jo Nicole Cordova

Biology ETDs

Aneides hardii (Sacramento Mountain salamander) is restricted to high-elevation habitat that is fragmented by low-elevation piñon-juniper woodland. Aneides hardii is a species of conservation concern in New Mexico, in part, because disease and climate change endanger its long-term persistence. In this study, we use sequence data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and a microsatellite locus of A. hardii to addresses the timing and scale of population subdivision. We also calculated genetic diversity measures and compared them among mountain ranges to explore demographic history of A. hardii. Twenty-six haplotypes and three genetically distinct lineages were identified, and each haplotype …