Abstract booklet - gtö – Society for Tropical Ecology

124 PARALLEL SESSION HALL H III | HOTSPOT WALLACEAPARALLEL SESSION HALL H III | HOTSPOT WALLACEA125DIVERSITY AND ENDEMISM OF SULAWESI WATER MONITORS:IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS OF A HIGHLYEXPLOITED CITES (SUB)SPECIES COMPLEXAndre Koch 1 , Evy Arida 2 , Bernhard Misof 1 , Wolfgang Böhme 11Forschungsmuseum A. Koenig, Bonn, DE, a.koch.zfmk@uni-bonn.de, 2 MuseumZoologicum Bogoriense, Cibinong, INSoutheast Asian water monitors (Squamata: Varanidae: Varanus salvatorcomplex) are not only among the largest squamate lizards in the world, theyare also highly exploited target (sub)species of the international reptile leathertrade. Annually, nearly half a million skins and leather products are legallyexported from Indonesian islands. The dark figure is probably much higherbecause the illegal trade is flourishing and international CITES regulations areoften violated.In addition, water monitors are well known for their good swimming abilitywhich enables them to cross marine barriers and colonize new terrains.Therefore, they exhibit the largest distribution range of all varanids. It extendsfrom Sri Lanka in the west through continental Southeast Asia, and the SundaIslands east to the Philippines, Sulawesi, and the Moluccas. On the oceanicislands of the Wallacea biodiversity hotspot at the eastern margin of theirdistribution range, water monitors show the highest diversity and endemicityincluding several locally restricted taxa.Applying AFLP-fingerprinting method and advanced statistics, we investigatedphylogeography and morphological diversity of Southeast Asian watermonitors from Sulawesi and its satellite islands, the so-called Sulawesi region.Our results show that Sulawesi monitor lizards belong to two differentevolutionary lineages, those of the northern Minahassa peninsula and those ofthe central, south-western and eastern regions. Surrounding off-shore islandslike Sangihe, Banggai, Kalaotoa and Tanahjampea harbour further endemicand undescribed taxa due to their spatial separation from mainland Sulawesiby deep ocean trenches and strong sea currents.Therefore, the current taxonomy of Sulawesi water monitors does not reflectthe observed diversity and demonstrates the urgent need for a thoroughtaxonomic assessment to manage future conservation efforts for CentralIndonesian water monitors.gtöTHURSDAY 10:30 Hall H IIITHURSDAY 10:30 Hall H IIISociety for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Status and future of tropical biodiversity | Frankfurt, 21 - 24 February 2011gtö