Dataset Information

Watershed characteristics shape the landscape genetics of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in shallow prairie lakes.

ABSTRACT: Investigating the consequences of landscape features on population genetic patterns is increasingly important to elucidate the ecological factors governing connectivity between populations and predicting the evolutionary consequences of landscapes. Small prairie lakes in Alberta, Canada, and the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) that inhabit them, provide a unique aquatic system whereby populations are highly isolated from one another. These heterogeneous and extreme environments are prone to winterkills, an event whereby most of the fish die and frequent bottlenecks occur. In this study, we characterized the genetic population structure of brook stickleback among several lakes, finding that the species is hierarchically influenced by within-lake characteristics in small-scale watersheds. Landscape genetic analyses of the role of spatial features found support for basin characteristics associated with genetic diversity and bottlenecks in 20% of the sampled lakes. These results suggest that brook stickleback population genetic patterns may be driven, at least in part, by ecological processes that accelerate genetic drift and landscape patterns associated with reduced dispersal. Collectively, these results reinforce the potential importance of connectivity in the maintenance of genetic diversity, especially in fragmented landscapes.

SUBMITTER: Kremer CS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5415534 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Watershed characteristics shape the landscape genetics of brook stickleback (<i>Culaea inconstans</i>) in shallow prairie lakes.

Kremer Cory S CS Vamosi Steven M SM Rogers Sean M SM

Ecology and evolution 20170328 9

Investigating the consequences of landscape features on population genetic patterns is increasingly important to elucidate the ecological factors governing connectivity between populations and predicting the evolutionary consequences of landscapes. Small prairie lakes in Alberta, Canada, and the brook stickleback (<i>Culaea inconstans</i>) that inhabit them, provide a unique aquatic system whereby populations are highly isolated from one another. These heterogeneous and extreme environments are ...[more]

PMID: 28480006

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Dataset Information

Watershed characteristics shape the landscape genetics of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in shallow prairie lakes.

Publications

Watershed characteristics shape the landscape genetics of brook stickleback (<i>Culaea inconstans</i>) in shallow prairie lakes.

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