scholarly journals The genomic ancestry, landscape genetics, and invasion history of introduced mice in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Veale ◽  
James C. Russell ◽  
Carolyn M. King

1.SummaryThe house mouse (Mus musculus) provides a fascinating system for studying both the genomic basis of reproductive isolation, and the patterns of human-mediated dispersal. New Zealand has a complex history of mouse invasions, and the living descendants of these invaders have genetic ancestry from all three subspecies, although most are primarily descended from M. m. domesticus. We used the GigaMUGA genotyping array (~135,000 loci) to describe the genomic ancestry of 161 mice, sampled from 34 locations from across New Zealand (and one Australian city - Sydney). Of these, two populations, one in the south of the South Island, and one on Chatham Island, showed complete mitochondrial lineage capture, featuring two different lineages of M. m. castaneus mitochondrial DNA but with only M. m. domesticus nuclear ancestry detectable. Mice in the northern and southern parts of the North Island had small traces (~2-3%) of M. m. castaneus nuclear ancestry, and mice in the upper South Island had ~7-8% M. m. musculus nuclear ancestry including some Y-chromosomal ancestry – though no detectable M. m. musculus mitochondrial ancestry. This is the most thorough genomic study of introduced populations of house mice yet conducted, and will have relevance to studies of the isolation mechanisms separating subspecies of mice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 170879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Veale ◽  
James C. Russell ◽  
Carolyn M. King

The house mouse ( Mus musculus ) provides a fascinating system for studying both the genomic basis of reproductive isolation, and the patterns of human-mediated dispersal. New Zealand has a complex history of mouse invasions, and the living descendants of these invaders have genetic ancestry from all three subspecies, although most are primarily descended from M. m. domesticus . We used the GigaMUGA genotyping array (approximately 135 000 loci) to describe the genomic ancestry of 161 mice, sampled from 34 locations from across New Zealand (and one Australian city—Sydney). Of these, two populations, one in the south of the South Island, and one on Chatham Island, showed complete mitochondrial lineage capture, featuring two different lineages of M. m. castaneus mitochondrial DNA but with only M. m. domesticus nuclear ancestry detectable. Mice in the northern and southern parts of the North Island had small traces (approx. 2–3%) of M. m. castaneus nuclear ancestry, and mice in the upper South Island had approximately 7–8% M. m. musculus nuclear ancestry including some Y-chromosomal ancestry—though no detectable M. m. musculus mitochondrial ancestry. This is the most thorough genomic study of introduced populations of house mice yet conducted, and will have relevance to studies of the isolation mechanisms separating subspecies of mice.



Author(s):  
J.M. Hercus
Keyword(s):  

CENTRAL OTAGO has a lore and a lure which set it apart from the rest of New Zealand. Its characteristics of geology, topography and climate, its history of occupation and exploitation, its scenery at once forbidding and yet strangely fascinating-these features combine to cast a spell from which few who have been exposed can ever fully escape. There is no formal boundary to the region. For the purposes of this paper it is defined as the area bounded by the Carrick and Old Man Ranges to the south, by the Lammermoor and Rock and Pillar Ranges to the east, by the Hawkdun and St. Bathans mountains, on the north, and west to Lakes Hawea, Wanaka and Wakatipu.



1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Forbes Manz

Temür has been many things to many people. He was nomad and city-builder, Turk and promoter of Persian culture, restorer of the Mongol order and warrior for the spread of Islam. One thing he was to all: a conqueror of unequalled scope, able to subdue both the vast areas of nomad power to the north and the centres of agrarian Islamic culture to the south. The history of his successors was one of increasing political fragmentation and economic stress. Yet they too won fame, as patrons over a period of brilliant cultural achievement in Persian and Turkic. Temür's career raises a number of questions. Why did he find it necessary to pile conquest upon conquest, each more ambitious than the last? Having conceived dreams of dominion, where did he get the power and money to fulfill them? When he died, what legacy did Temür leave to his successors and to the world which they tried to control? Finally, what was this world of Turk and Persian, and where did Temür and the Timurids belong within it?



1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (95) ◽  
pp. 327-340
Author(s):  
Francis Thompson

The Irish land act of 1881, it is generally agreed, was a victory for the Land League and Parnell, and nationalist policy with regard to the act and the attitude of southern tenants towards it have been many times subjected to detailed examination by historians of this period. In these analyses of the events of 1880–81, however, little reference is normally made to the part played by the different parties and interests in the north of the country. It is often assumed, for example, that the Ulster tenants held aloof from the campaign for reform, lending no more than occasional vocal support to the agitational efforts of tenants in the south and west. Indeed, they were later excoriated by William O'Brien, Michael Davitt and others not only for giving no support to the land movement but also for sabotaging Parnell's policy of testing the 1881 act by precipitately rushing into the land courts to take advantage of the new legislation: ‘that hard-fisted body of men, having done nothing themselves to win the act, thought of nothing but turning it to their own immediate use, and repudiating any solidarity with the southern and western rebels to whom they really owed it’. If, however, northern tenants were harshly judged by nationalist politicians in the years after 1881, the part played by the northern political parties in the history of the land bill has been either ignored or misunderstood by historians since that time. The Ulster liberals, for example, are rarely mentioned, the implication being that they made no contribution to the act even though it implemented almost exactly the programme on which they had been campaigning for much of the previous decade. The northern conservatives, on the other hand, are commonly seen as leading opponents of the bill, more intransigent than their party colleagues in the south, ‘quick to denounce any weakening of the opposition’ to reform, and ‘determined to keep the tory party up to the mark in defending the landlord interest’



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Howse

<p><b>Social wasps are considered among the most successful and impactful invasive species in the world. One species, Polistes dominula has spread from its native Mediterranean range to every continent except Antarctica. This wasp reached New Zealand in the last decade where it has established in the north of the South Island, however, reports of its presence are increasing throughout the country. Due to its recent arrival in New Zealand, little is known about where this species is likely to establish or what impacts it may have on local insect communities. In this thesis, I conducted two studies to investigate these questions, providing valuable information that may inform future management of this invasive species. </b></p><p>In chapter 2, I used two bioclimatic modelling methods to predict areas of suitable habitat across four regions in the southern hemisphere. These models were informed by global temperature and precipitation data as well as global distribution occurrence data of P. dominula. These data were used to estimate conditions most highly correlated with the presence of this wasp. The models identified large areas across the target regions that were climatically suitable for the establishment of P. dominula. Many of these areas are not known to currently contain populations of this species, representing habitat potentially vulnerable to further invasion by P. dominula. Areas across South America, South Africa and Australia were predicted to be climatically suitable. In New Zealand, much of the North Island and eastern parts of the South Island were predicted to be suitable habitat for this wasp. These results suggest that P. dominula could potentially establish across more of the country and expand its invaded range. Information provided by these models may guide conservation and biosecurity management by highlighting key areas where prevention and mitigation should be prioritized. </p><p>In chapter 3, I used molecular diet analysis to investigate the range of prey being utilised by P. dominula in New Zealand. Using DNA barcoding, larval gut contents of P. dominula and another closely related species, Polistes chinensis, were analysed to identify what species were present in the diet of both wasps. Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) were found to be the most highly represented order in both species’ diets. True bugs (Hemiptera) and flies (Diptera) were also abundant. Both wasps were shown to consume a range of native and introduced species including a number of agricultural pests. P. dominula was found to utilise a wider range of prey than P. chinensis. This more diverse prey range, combined with known differences in nesting behaviour, suggest that P. dominula may represent a more significant threat to invertebrate diversity than the already well-established P. chinensis. These results may inform conservation and biosecurity managers on which species are most at risk where this new invasive wasp becomes established. </p><p>This thesis provides insights into the potential impacts of a new invasive species to New Zealand. Both chapters represent the first time that these methods have been used to study P. dominula. This work highlights the need for continued monitoring of wasp populations throughout New Zealand, especially in regions highlighted as vulnerable to P. dominula establishment. We also suggest the need to prioritise the conservation of ‘at-risk’ species in coastal and human-altered habitats. Increased public engagement through the citizen-science initiatives should be encouraged while more research into management and control methods is recommended.</p>



2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mordechai Cogan

Beginning with the death of David and the rise of Solomon, 1 Kings charts the history of Israel through the divided monarchy, when Ahab reigned in the north and Jehoshaphat reigned in the south. This new translation, with introduction and commentary by biblical scholar Mordechai Cogan, is part of the Anchor Bible Commentary series, viewed by many as the definitive commentaries for use in both Christian and Jewish scholarship and worship. Cogan's translation brings new immediacy to well-known passages, such as Solomon's famously wise judgment when asked by two prostitutes to decide their dispute regarding motherhood of a child: "Cut the live son in two! And give half to one and half to the other." With a bibliography that runs to almost a thousand articles and books, Cogan's commentary demonstrates his mastery of the political history described by 1 Kings, as well as the themes of moral and religious failure that eventually led to Israel's defeat and exile.



Author(s):  
Stefan Nygård

The history of modern Italy is an illustrative example of the different social and spatial layers of the North–South divide. Since unification in 1861, Italy has struggled to overcome regional imbalances, mainly although not exclusively along a North–South axis. With an emphasis on the period following unification, when North-South was placed at the centre of national politics, this chapter surveys the lingering debates on Italy’s so-called Southern question and the dynamics of nation-state formation in which it is embedded. The contested history of this process includes debates over economic and moral debts caused by the uneven distribution of gains and sacrifices between North and South as a result of unification. Socio-economically, two North–South divides developed in parallel after unification; the more significant one between Italy and transalpine Europe, and the initially minor but eventually growing divergence between the northern and southern regions within Italy. The ideas of development, catching-up and “Europeanization” were recurring themes in the intellectual and political debates discussed in the chapter. The contested issue was whether the North was developing the South, or vice versa.



2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-393
Author(s):  
Manisha Desai

In this article, I focus on the work of the South Asian Network for Gender Transformation (SANGAT) to show how it goes beyond the current turn to the Global South in much contemporary transnational feminisms. It does so in two ways. One, as evident in the name, it defines a regional imaginary, which is place-based and informed by the long history of interactions in the area beyond the colonial, postcolonial, and recent global forces, as well as in conversation with discourses and practices from the North. Second, its praxis connects activists across borders in a process of mutual learning that acknowledges power inequalities and draws upon local as well as transnational feminist theories and methodologies to enable sustainable collaborations for social and gender justice in the region. Thus, rather than reproducing the North/South binaries with its attendant erasures SANGAT seeks to go beyond them to develop place-based yet connected ‘solidarities of epistemologies’ and praxis.



Inner Asia ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-373
Author(s):  
Elke Studer

AbstractThe article outlines the Mongolian influences on the biggest horse race festival in Nagchu prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).Since old times these horse races have been closely linked to the worship of the local mountain deity by the patrilineal nomadic clans of the South-Eastern Changthang, the North Tibetan plain. In the seventeenth century the West Mongol chieftain Güüshi Khan shaped the history of Tibet. To support his political claims, he enlarged the horse race festival's size and scale, and had his troops compete in the different horse race and archery competitions in Nagchu. Since then, the winners of the big race are celebrated side by side with the political achievements and claims of the central government in power.



2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joint Archaeological Team Of Instit ◽  
Suzhou Municipal Institute Of Archa

AbstractIn 2009 and 2010, a series of archaeological investigations were conducted in and around the Mudu archaic city site located in the southwestern highland of Greater Suzhou, Jiangsu. The excavations revealed sections of the north circumference wall at Wufeng and the water gate of the south circumference wall at Xinfeng. The surveys identified the possible locations of the east and the west circumference walls. Diagnostic proto-porcelain and stamped potsherds were recovered. It is tentatively argued that both the north and the south walls were built and in use during the late Spring-and-Autumn Period. The Mudu Site, therefore, was a large-scale walled settlement functioned as a regional center of its time. These findings are instrumental in the search for the lost capital of Wu State of the Spring-and-Autumn Period, the understanding of the relationship among the various contemporary settlement sites, cairns, earthen mounds, and caches distributed in the region, and the reconstruction of the local cultural history of Eastern Zhou.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document