| Presentation Detail
Landscape Genetics Monzón, Javier [1], Kays, Roland [2]. Rapid formation of habitat-conforming metapopulation genetic structure in northeastern coyotes. A central issue in evolutionary biology is how populations of highly mobile species differentiate genetically and specialize ecologically despite the absence of physical barriers. Recent studies have highlighted the potential for ecological factors to drive genetic differentiation in animals that use landscapes with relatively simple habitat configurations in which the different habitat types are broad and individually continuous. We investigated whether ecological factors can similarly influence genetic structure in a complex, fine-grained mosaic of habitat types. We used 91 single nucleotide polymorphisms to evaluate the relative influence of geography, ecology, and ancestry on genetic variation in a sample of 427 northeastern coyotes (Canis latrans). The null hypothesis of no spatial genetic structure is not supported. Instead, population genetic structure conforms to spatial patterns of forested, agricultural, and urban habitat types. High densities of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a primary prey of northeastern coyotes, also explain a small, but significant, proportion of genetic variation. The ecological specialization of genetically differentiated coyote populations is thus affected by patterns of human land use and deer density. Since coyotes only colonized the region in the last 50-70 years, these findings demonstrate the rapid formation of ecological barriers to gene flow in just a few dozen generations. Strong habitat preferences that develop early in life as pups learn to cope with habitat-specific challenges may account fort he observed pattern of habitat-conforming genetic metapopulations.
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1 - Stony Brook University, Ecology and Evolution, 650 Life Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5245, USA
2 - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Nature Research Center, 9 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC, 27601, USA
Keywords:
Canis latrans
Individual Specialization
Land use
rapid diversification
SNP.
Presentation Type: Regular Oral Presentation
Session: 94
Location: Peruvian B/Snowbird Center
Date: Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Time: 4:30 PM
Number: 94005
Abstract ID:1070
Candidate for Awards:W.D. Hamilton Award for Outstanding Student Presentation |
