Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec;32(24):6743-6765.
doi: 10.1111/mec.16806. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Riverscape community genomics: A comparative analytical approach to identify common drivers of spatial structure

Zachery D Zbinden  1 , Marlis R Douglas  1 , Tyler K Chafin  1   2 , Michael E Douglas  1
Affiliations

Riverscape community genomics: A comparative analytical approach to identify common drivers of spatial structure

Zachery D Zbinden et al. Mol Ecol. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Genetic differentiation among local groups of individuals, that is, genetic β-diversity, is a key component of population persistence related to connectivity and isolation. However, most genetic investigations of natural populations focus on a single species, overlooking opportunities for multispecies conservation plans to benefit entire communities in an ecosystem. We present an approach to evaluate genetic β-diversity within and among many species and demonstrate how this riverscape community genomics approach can be applied to identify common drivers of genetic structure. Our study evaluated genetic β-diversity in 31 co-distributed native stream fishes sampled from 75 sites across the White River Basin (Ozarks, USA) using SNP genotyping (ddRAD). Despite variance among species in the degree of genetic divergence, general spatial patterns were identified corresponding to river network architecture. Most species (N = 24) were partitioned into discrete subpopulations (K = 2-7). We used partial redundancy analysis to compare species-specific genetic β-diversity across four models of genetic structure: Isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by barrier (IBB), isolation by stream hierarchy (IBH), and isolation by environment (IBE). A significant proportion of intraspecific genetic variation was explained by IBH (x̄ = 62%), with the remaining models generally redundant. We found evidence for consistent spatial modularity in that gene flow is higher within rather than between hierarchical units (i.e., catchments, watersheds, basins), supporting the generalization of the stream hierarchy model. We discuss our conclusions regarding conservation and management and identify the 8-digit hydrologic unit (HUC) as the most relevant spatial scale for managing genetic diversity across riverine networks.

Keywords: RADseq; comparative population genetics; hydrologic units; population structure; spatial modularity; stream hierarchy model.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Alexander, D. H., & Lange, K. (2011). Enhancements to the ADMIXTURE algorithm for individual ancestry estimation. BMC Bioinformatics, 12(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2105-12-246
    1. Anderson, M. J., & Legendre, P. (1999). An empirical comparison of permutation methods for tests of partial regression coefficients in a linear model. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, 62(3), 271-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/00949659908811936
    1. Anthonysamy, W. J. B., Dreslik, M. J., Douglas, M. R., Thompson, D., Klut, G. M., Kuhns, A. R., Mauger, D., Kirk, D., Glowacki, G. A., Douglas, M. E., & Phillips, C. A. (2018). Population genetic evaluations within a co-distributed taxonomic group: A multispecies approach to conservation planning. Animal Conservation, 21(2), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12365
    1. Avise, J. C. (1992). Molecular population structure and the biogeographic history of a regional fauna: A case history with lessons for conservation biology. Oikos, 63, 62-76. https://doi.org/10.2307/3545516
    1. Blanchet, F. G., Legendre, P., & Borcard, D. (2008). Forward selection of explanatory variables. Ecology, 89(9), 2623-2632. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0986.1

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources