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Dispersal responses override density effects on genetic diversity during post-disturbance succession.

ABSTRACT: Dispersal fundamentally influences spatial population dynamics but little is known about dispersal variation in landscapes where spatial heterogeneity is generated predominantly by disturbance and succession. We tested the hypothesis that habitat succession following fire inhibits dispersal, leading to declines over time in genetic diversity in the early successional gecko Nephrurus stellatus We combined a landscape genetics field study with a spatially explicit simulation experiment to determine whether successional patterns in genetic diversity were driven by habitat-mediated dispersal or demographic effects (declines in population density leading to genetic drift). Initial increases in genetic structure following fire were likely driven by direct mortality and rapid population expansion. Subsequent habitat succession increased resistance to gene flow and decreased dispersal and genetic diversity inN. stellatus Simulated changes in population density alone did not reproduce these results. Habitat-mediated reductions in dispersal, combined with changes in population density, were essential to drive the field-observed patterns. Our study provides a framework for combining demographic, movement and genetic data with simulations to discover the relative influence of demography and dispersal on patterns of landscape genetic structure. Our results suggest that succession can inhibit connectivity among individuals, opening new avenues for understanding how disturbance regimes influence spatial population dynamics.

SUBMITTER: Smith AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4822457 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Dispersal responses override density effects on genetic diversity during post-disturbance succession.

Smith Annabel L AL Landguth Erin L EL Bull C Michael CM Banks Sam C SC Gardner Michael G MG Driscoll Don A DA

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20160301 1827

Dispersal fundamentally influences spatial population dynamics but little is known about dispersal variation in landscapes where spatial heterogeneity is generated predominantly by disturbance and succession. We tested the hypothesis that habitat succession following fire inhibits dispersal, leading to declines over time in genetic diversity in the early successional gecko Nephrurus stellatus We combined a landscape genetics field study with a spatially explicit simulation experiment to determin ...[more]

PMID: 27009225

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Project description:Dispersal can influence the response of bacterial communities to environmental changes and disturbances. However, the extent to which dispersal contributes to the community response in dependence of the character and strength of the disturbance remains unclear. Here, we conducted a transplant experiment using dialysis bags in which bacterioplankton originating from brackish and marine regions of the Saint Lawrence Estuary were reciprocally incubated in the two environments for 5 days. Dispersal treatments were set-up by subjecting half of the microcosms in each environment to an exchange of cells between the marine and brackish assemblages at a daily exchange rate of 6% (v/v), and the other half of microcosms were kept as the non-dispersal treatments. Bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing was then used to examine the diversity and composition of the active communities. Alpha diversity of the marine communities that were exposed to the brackish environment was elevated greatly by dispersal, but declined in the absence of dispersal. This indicates that dispersal compensated the loss of diversity in the marine communities after a disturbance by introducing bacterial taxa that were able to thrive and coexist with the remaining community members under brackish conditions. On the contrary, alpha diversity of the brackish communities was not affected by dispersal in either environment. Furthermore, dispersal led to an increase in similarity between marine and brackish communities in both of the environments, with a greater similarity when the communities were incubated in the brackish environment. These results suggest that the higher initial diversity in the brackish than in the marine starting community made the resident community less susceptible to dispersing bacteria. Altogether, this study shows that dispersal modifies the diversity and composition of the active communities in response to a salinity disturbance, and enables the local adjustment of specific bacteria under brackish environmental conditions.

Dataset Information

Dispersal responses override density effects on genetic diversity during post-disturbance succession.

Publications

Dispersal responses override density effects on genetic diversity during post-disturbance succession.

Similar Datasets

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