Dataset Information

Glacial allopatry vs. postglacial parapatry and peripatry: the case of hedgehogs.

ABSTRACT: Although hedgehogs are well-known examples of postglacial recolonisation, the specific processes that shape their population structures have not been examined by detailed sampling and fast-evolving genetic markers in combination with model based clustering methods. This study aims to analyse the impacts of isolation within glacial refugia and of postglacial expansion on the population structure of the Northern White-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus). It also discusses the role of the processes at edges of species distribution in its evolutionary history. The maternally inherited mitochondrial control region and the bi-parentally inherited nuclear microsatellites were used to examine samples within the Central Europe, Balkan Peninsula and adjacent islands. Bayesian coalescent inference and neutrality tests proposed a recent increase in the population size. The most pronounced pattern of population structure involved differentiation of the insular populations in the Mediterranean Sea and the population within the contact zone with E. europaeus in Central Europe. An interspecies hybrid was detected for the first time in Central Europe. A low genetic diversity was observed in Crete, while the highest genetic distances among individuals were found in Romania. The recent population in the post-refugial area related to the Balkan Peninsula shows a complex pattern with pronounced subpopulations located mainly in the Pannonian Basin and at the Adriatic and Pontic coasts. Detailed analyses indicate that parapatry and peripatry may not be the only factors that limit range expansion, but also strong microevolutionary forces that may change the genetic structure of the species. Here we present evidence showing that population differentiation may occur not only during the glacial restriction of the range into the refugia, but also during the interglacial range expansion. Population differentiation at the Balkan Peninsula and adjacent regions could be ascribed to diversification in steppe/forest biomes and complicated geomorphology, including pronounced geographic barriers as Carpathians.

SUBMITTER: Cerna Bolfikova B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5407276 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Glacial allopatry vs. postglacial parapatry and peripatry: the case of hedgehogs.

Černa Bolfíková Barbora B Eliášová Kristýna K Loudová Miroslava M Kryštufek Boris B Lymberakis Petros P Sándor Attila D AD Hulva Pavel P

PeerJ 20170425

Although hedgehogs are well-known examples of postglacial recolonisation, the specific processes that shape their population structures have not been examined by detailed sampling and fast-evolving genetic markers in combination with model based clustering methods. This study aims to analyse the impacts of isolation within glacial refugia and of postglacial expansion on the population structure of the Northern White-breasted hedgehog (<i>Erinaceus roumanicus</i>). It also discusses the role of t ...[more]

PMID: 28462018

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Project description:BackgroundPleistocene glaciations have had an important impact on the species distribution and community composition of the North American biota. Species survived these glacial cycles south of the ice sheets and/or in other refugia, such as Beringia. In this study, we assessed, using mitochondrial DNA from three Diptera species, whether flies currently found in Beringian grasslands (1) survived glaciation as disjunct populations in Beringia and in the southern refugium; (2) dispersed northward postglacially from the southern refugium; or (3) arose by a combination of the two. Samples were collected in grasslands in western Canada: Prairies in Alberta and Manitoba; the Peace River region (Alberta); and the southern Yukon Territory. We sequenced two gene regions (658 bp of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 510 bp of cytochrome b) from three species of higher Diptera: one with a continuous distribution across grassland regions, and two with disjunct populations between the regions. We used a Bayesian approach to determine population groupings without a priori assumptions and performed analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and exact tests of population differentiation (ETPD) to examine their validity. Molecular dating was used to establish divergence times.ResultsTwo geographically structured populations were found for all species: a southern Prairie and Peace River population, and a Yukon population. Although AMOVA did not show significant differentiation between populations, ETPD did. Divergence time between Yukon and southern populations predated the Holocene for two species; the species with an ambiguous divergence time had high haplotype diversity, which could suggest survival in a Beringian refugium.ConclusionsPopulations of Diptera in Yukon grasslands could have persisted in steppe habitats in Beringia through Pleistocene glaciations. Current populations in the region appear to be a mix of Beringian relict populations and, to a lesser extent, postglacial dispersal northward from southern prairie grasslands.

Dataset Information

Glacial allopatry vs. postglacial parapatry and peripatry: the case of hedgehogs.

Publications

Glacial allopatry vs. postglacial parapatry and peripatry: the case of hedgehogs.

Similar Datasets

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