10.25338/B86P54
Kierepka, Elizabeth
0000-0002-5816-8872
University of California, Davis
Anderson, Sara
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Swihart, Robert
0000-0002-4064-1940
Purdue University
Rhodes Jr., Olin
0000-0001-7271-9805
Savannah River National Laboratory
Differing, multi-scale landscape effects on genetic diversity and
differentiation in eastern chipmunks
Dryad
dataset
2019
Tamias striatus
eastern chipmunk
habitat loss and fragmentation
midwestern United States
2020-01-03T00:00:00Z
2020-01-03T00:00:00Z
en
8635 bytes
6
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Understanding how habitat loss and fragmentation impact genetic variation
is a major goal in landscape genetics, but to date, most studies have
focused solely on the correlation between intervening matrix and genetic
differentiation at a single spatial scale. Several caveats exist in these
study designs, among them is the inability to include measures of genetic
diversity in addition to differentiation. Both genetic metrics help
predict population persistence, but are expected to function at differing
spatial scales, which requires a multi-scale investigation. In this study,
we sampled two distinct spatial scales in 31 independent landscapes along
a gradient of landscape context (i.e., forest amount, configuration, and
types of intervening matrix) to investigate how landscape heterogeneity
influences genetic diversity and differentiation in the forest-associated
eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus). Overall, quality of intervening matrix
was correlated with genetic differentiation at multiple spatial scales,
whereas only configuration was associated with regional scale genetic
diversity. Habitat amount, in contrast, did not influence genetic
differentiation or diversity at either spatial scale. Based on our
findings, landscape effects on genetic variation appears to differ based
on spatial scale, the type of genetic response variable, and random
variation among landscapes, making extrapolation of results from single
scale, un-replicated studies difficult. We encourage landscape geneticists
to utilize multi-scale, replicated landscapes with both genetic diversity
and differentiation to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how
habitat loss and fragmentation influence genetic variation.
These datafiles contain all landscape and genetic data for chipmunks
sampled across the Upper Wabash Valley, Indiana, USA. Our analyses were
conducted at two spatial scales: “Regional Scale” and “Local Scale”, so
descriptions are provided for each datafile in the ReadMe. Please see
FragStats documentation and manuscript text for further definitions of
each landscape statistic.