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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(9)

Do lowland habitats represent barriers to dispersal for a rainforest mayfly, Bungona narilla, in south-east Queensland?

Alison J. McLean A B , Daniel J. Schmidt A and Jane M. Hughes A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Australian Rivers Institute, Cooperative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld 4111, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: alison.mclean@griffith.edu.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(9) 761-771 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07202
Submitted: 26 October 2007  Accepted: 29 June 2008   Published: 7 October 2008

Abstract

Long-distance dispersal might be an important mechanism for the maintenance of aquatic insect populations in heterogeneous landscapes. However, these events can be difficult to measure by direct observation because the techniques can be time-consuming, expensive and technically difficult. When dispersal results in gene flow within and between populations, patterns of variation can be detected by genetic methods. The levels of population genetic structuring and the relationship between gene flow and geographical distance were assessed in the mayfly species Bungona narilla (Harker, 1957) in rainforest streams in south-east Queensland that are separated by lowland habitats. An analysis of molecular variance based on mitochondrial DNA data, using a fragment of the cytochrome oxidase I gene, revealed significant differentiation between regions, suggesting that maternal gene flow was restricted. A nested clade analysis revealed patterns of historical (contiguous) range expansions and recent restricted gene flow along with some long-distance dispersal events. Our analyses have shown that populations of B. narilla are significantly structured throughout the species range in south-east Queensland and that the low elevation habitats separating the northern and southern populations are restricting gene flow to some extent.

Additional keywords: gene flow, genetics, mitochondrial DNA, nested clade, population structure.


Acknowledgements

Special thanks to D. Sorensen, J. Fawcett, T. Rodrigues, G. Carini, C. Murria and M. Hillyer for help in the field collecting samples and to the many people in the Molecular Biology Laboratory who helped with molecular methods, especially J. Sommerville and S. Smith. Thanks also to the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service for providing permits to collect mayflies and the Australian Rivers Institute for providing funding to A. McLean for this research. Finally, thank you to two anonymous referees who supplied valuable feedback on this manuscript.


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