Effects of the landscape on boreal toad gene flow: does the pattern-process relationship hold true across distinct landscapes at the northern range margin?

Moore, Jennifer A.; Tallmon, David A.; Nielsen, Julie K.; Pyare, Sanjay

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05313.x

Cited by 48 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Most population genetic studies of amphibians assume individuals at a breeding pond represent a population (e.g., Tallmon et al 2000;Spear et al 2005;Moore et al 2011). However, these delineations may not represent genetic populations, leading to bias in subsequent analyses (e.g., Funk et al 2005;Giordano et al 2007).…”

Section: Genetic Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetic structure and disease in montane boreal toads: more heterozygous individuals are more likely to be infected with amphibian chytrid

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amphibians are more threatened than any other vertebrate group, with 41 % of species classified as threatened. The causes of most declines are not well understood, though many declines have been linked to disease. Additionally, amphibians are physiologically constrained to moist habitats and considered poor dispersers; thus, they may suffer genetic consequences of population isolation. To understand threats to the persistence of boreal toads (Bufo boreas) in Glacier National Park, USA, we genotyped 551 individuals at 11 microsatellite loci and used Bayesian clustering methods to describe population genetic structure and identify barriers to gene flow. We found evidence of two primary genetic groups that differed substantially in elevation and two secondary groups within the high elevation group. There was also evidence of further substructure within the southern high elevation group, suggesting mountain ridges are barriers to gene flow at local scales. Overall, genetic variation was high, but allelic richness declined with increasing elevation, reflecting greater isolation or smaller effective population sizes of high altitude populations. We tested for Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the fungal pathogen which causes chytridiomycosis, and we found that 35 of 199 toads were positive for Bd. Unexpectedly, more heterozygous individuals were more likely to be infected. This suggests that dispersal facilitates the spread of disease because heterozygosity may be highest where dispersal and gene flow are greatest.

show abstract

Section: Genetic Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetic structure and disease in montane boreal toads: more heterozygous individuals are more likely to be infected with amphibian chytrid

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A key finding of several of the studies in Table 2 is the different patterns seen over diverse scales and sampling regimes. For instance, researchers have found differing effects of landscapes on amphibians by looking at different regions inhabited by a single species (Johansson et al 2005;Wang et al 2009aWang et al , 2011Moore et al 2011;Trumbo et al 2013), different species within the same region (Goldberg & Waits 2010;Richardson 2012), different time periods for the same metapopulation (Savage et al 2010) and different spatial scales for the same analysis (Angelone et al 2011). These results collectively challenge the generality of results that stem from landscape genetic studies, and suggest that results from molecular studies of amphibian-landscape interactions should generally be interpreted within the scope of a specific study or region, but not beyond.…”

Section: Amphibian Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…14 microsats Landscape variables have drastically different effects on spotted salamanders than on wood frogs Moore et al (2011) Boreal toad (Bufo boreas) 11 microsats Saltwater and landscape cover influence gene flow for boreal toads in one region of southeast Alaska, but not in another Angelone et al (2011) European tree frog (Hyla arborea)…”

Section: Amphibian Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amphibian molecular ecology and how it has informed conservation

McCartney‐Melstad

Shaffer

2015

Molecular Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Molecular ecology has become one of the key tools in the modern conservationist's kit. Here we review three areas where molecular ecology has been applied to amphibian conservation: genes on landscapes, within-population processes, and genes that matter. We summarize relevant analytical methods, recent important studies from the amphibian literature, and conservation implications for each section. Finally, we include five in-depth examples of how molecular ecology has been successfully applied to specific amphibian systems.

show abstract

“…Several studies have compared results from LCPs and circuit-based estimates, leading to contrasting results. It was suggested that circuit-based estimates perform better than LCPs, except in cases where populations are narrowly distributed along linear bands of suitable habitat (Schwartz et al 2009, Moore et al 2011). In our study circuit-based estimates performed better, although the improvement was relatively low.…”

Section: Circuit-based Estimates Provide Limited Improvementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A stochastic movement simulator improves estimates of landscape connectivity

Coulon

Aben

Palmer

et al. 2015

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Conservation actions often focus on restoration or creation of natural areas designed to facilitate the movements of organisms among populations. To be efficient, these actions need to be based on reliable estimates or predictions of landscape connectivity. While circuit theory and least-cost paths (LCPs) are increasingly being used to estimate connectivity, these methods also have proven limitations. We compared their performance in predicting genetic connectivity with that of an alternative approach based on a simple, individual-based ''stochastic movement simulator'' (SMS). SMS predicts dispersal of organisms using the same landscape representation as LCPs and circuit theory-based estimates (i.e., a cost surface), while relaxing key LCP assumptions, namely individual omniscience of the landscape (by incorporating perceptual range) and the optimality of individual movements (by including stochasticity in simulated movements). The performance of the three estimators was assessed by the degree to which they correlated with genetic estimates of connectivity in two species with contrasting movement abilities (Cabanis's Greenbul, an Afrotropical forest bird species, and natterjack toad, an amphibian restricted to European sandy and heathland areas). For both species, the correlation between dispersal model and genetic data was substantially higher when SMS was used. Importantly, the results also demonstrate that the improvement gained by using SMS is robust both to variation in spatial resolution of the landscape and to uncertainty in the perceptual range model parameter. Integration of this individual-based approach with other developing methods in the field of connectivity research, such as graph theory, can yield rapid progress towards more robust connectivity indices and more effective recommendations for land management.

show abstract

Effects of the landscape on boreal toad gene flow: does the pattern-process relationship hold true across distinct landscapes at the northern range margin?

Cited by 48 publications

References 66 publications

Population genetic structure and disease in montane boreal toads: more heterozygous individuals are more likely to be infected with amphibian chytrid

Population genetic structure and disease in montane boreal toads: more heterozygous individuals are more likely to be infected with amphibian chytrid

Amphibian molecular ecology and how it has informed conservation

A stochastic movement simulator improves estimates of landscape connectivity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About