Open AccessUsing multiple landscape genetic approaches to test the validity of genetic clusters in a species characterized by an isolation‐by‐distance pattern
Author(s) -
Renner Swen C.,
SuarezRubio Marcela,
Wiesner Kerstin R.,
Drögemüller Cord,
Gockel Sonja,
Kalko Elisabeth K. V.,
Ayasse Manfred,
Frantz Alain C.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/bij.12737
Subject(s) - isolation by distance , biology , gene flow , cluster analysis , habitat fragmentation , population , genetic distance , geographical distance , mantel test , evolutionary biology , habitat , ecology , statistics , genetics , genetic variation , gene , mathematics , demography , sociology
Bayesian clustering methods are typically used to identify barriers to gene flow, but they are prone to deduce artificial subdivisions in a study population characterized by an isolation‐by‐distance pattern (IbD). Here we analysed the landscape genetic structure of a population of wild boars ( Sus scrofa ) from south‐western Germany. Two clustering methods inferred the presence of the same genetic discontinuity. However, the population in question was characterized by a strong IbD pattern. While landscape‐resistance modelling failed to identify landscape features that influenced wild boar movement, partial Mantel tests and multiple regression of distance matrices ( MRDM s) suggested that the empirically inferred clusters were separated by a genuine barrier. When simulating random lines bisecting the study area, 60% of the unique barriers represented, according to partial Mantel tests and MRDM s, significant obstacles to gene flow. By contrast, the random‐lines simulation showed that the boundaries of the inferred empirical clusters corresponded to the most important genetic discontinuity in the study area. Given the degree of habitat fragmentation separating the two empirical partitions, it is likely that the clustering programs correctly identified a barrier to gene flow. The differing results between the work published here and other studies suggest that it will be very difficult to draw general conclusions about habitat permeability in wild boar from individual studies.