Dynamics in island populations of Boana albomarginata

Abstract

Biodiversity on islands has attracted the attention of many scientists throughout history, from Darwin's studies to MacArthur and Wilson's model of island biogeography and modern models of the effects of isolation. The island rule, which places the change in size as a result of this isolation on islands, has attracted many researchers to not only try to understand its causes but also predict its consequences. Amphibians, in this aspect, are still little studied, and the results observed vary widely. One of these species, Boana albomarginata, shows gigantism on islands, but the historical population dynamics that may have caused this effect have not yet been studied. Therefore, this work aims to evaluate historical demographic aspects that may explain gigantism in island populations of this species. Six locations on the mainland and seven islands off the coast of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were sampled. 3RAD libraries will be produced and sequenced. This sequencing will be analyzed in order to evaluate the index of diversity and genetic structure and historical population changes. It is expected that the parameters are related to the degree of isolation of the populations, thus explaining previous observations of differentiated effects by island.