关键词: 高原鼠兔, 微卫星, 遗传多样性, 遗传分化

Abstract: The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) has a widespread distribution over the high alpine grassland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of People's Republic of China.It is one of the most dominant small mammals and plays an important role in keeping the balance of the alpine meadow ecosystem. The aim of this paper was to investigate the level of genetic diversity and also to test the hypothesis of IBD (isolation by distance) for this old species. Samples of plateau pikas were collected from four natural populations (Haiyan,Xidatan E, Xidatan W and Kunlunshan populations). Genetic diversity and differentiation were assessed with seven polymorphic microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity of plateau pika was comparatively higher than that for some other small mammals (H_o = 0. 6003, H_e = 0.5332). The majority of genetic variation occurred within populations (F_st = 0.0975). The levels of genetic diversity of the four populations were similar. High genetic differentiation was encountered between Haiyan population and the other three (F_st = 0.1043)probably due to the long distance between them. However, the results of mantel test showed that there was no significant correlation between geographical distance and genetic distance.

Key words: Genetic diversity, Genetic differentiation, Microsatellite, Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae)