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Landscape genetics of a pollinator longhorn beetle [ Typocerus v. velutinus (Olivier)] on a continuous habitat surface
Author(s) -
Abdel Moniem H. E. M.,
Schemerhorn B. J.,
DeWoody J. A.,
Holland J. D.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.13819
Subject(s) - biology , ecology , habitat fragmentation , habitat , gene flow , isolation by distance , population , landscape connectivity , genetic structure , population genetics , biological dispersal , genetic variation , genetics , gene , demography , sociology
Landscape connectivity, the degree to which the landscape structure facilitates or impedes organismal movement and gene flow, is increasingly important to conservationists and land managers. Metrics for describing the undulating shape of continuous habitat surfaces can expand the usefulness of continuous gradient surfaces that describe habitat and predict the flow of organisms and genes. We adopted a landscape gradient model of habitat and used surface metrics of connectivity to model the genetic continuity between populations of the banded longhorn beetle [ Typocerus v. velutinus (Olivier)] collected at 17 sites across a fragmentation gradient in Indiana, USA . We tested the hypothesis that greater habitat connectivity facilitates gene flow between beetle populations against a null model of isolation by distance ( IBD ). We used next‐generation sequencing to develop 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci and genotype the individual beetles to assess the population genetic structure. Isolation by distance did not explain the population genetic structure. The surface metrics model of habitat connectivity explained the variance in genetic dissimilarities 30 times better than the IBD model. We conclude that surface metrology of habitat maps is a powerful extension of landscape genetics in heterogeneous landscapes.