Genetic diversity, population structure, and effective population size in two yellow bat species in south Texas

Abstract

There are increasing concerns regarding bat mortality at wind energy facilities, especially as installed capacity continues to grow. In North America, wind energy development has recently expanded into the Lower Rio Grande Valley in south Texas where bat species had not previously been exposed to wind turbines. Our study sought to characterize genetic diversity, population structure, and effective population size in Dasypterus ega and D. intermedius, two tree-roosting yellow bats native to this region and for which little is known about their population biology and seasonal movements. There was no evidence of population substructure in either species. Genetic diversity at mitochondrial and microsatellite loci was lower in these yellow bat taxa than in previously studied migratory tree bat species in North America, which may be due to the non-migratory nature of these species at our study site, the fact that our study site is located at a geographic range end for both taxa, and possibly weak ascertainment bias at microsatellite loci. Historical effective population size (NEF) was large for both species, while current estimates of Ne had upper 95% confidence limits that encompassed infinity. We found evidence of strong mitochondrial differentiation between the two putative subspecies of D. intermedius (D. i. floridanus and D. i. intermedius) which are sympatric in this region of Texas, yet little differentiation using microsatellite loci. We suggest this pattern is due to secondary contact and hybridization and possibly incomplete lineage sorting at microsatellite loci. We also found evidence of some hybridization between D. ega and D. intermedius in this region of Texas. We recommend that our data serve as a starting point for the long-term genetic monitoring of these species in order to better understand the impacts of wind-related mortality on these populations over time.

Acoustic and Genetic Data Can Reduce Uncertainty Regarding Populations of Migratory Tree-Roosting Bats Impacted by Wind Energy

“…Chipps et al [ 88 ] detected a significant female bias in collision mortality using molecular sex determination for the southern yellow bat. Estimates of historic Ne and genetic diversity in both yellow bat species were lower than those reported for the three migratory tree-roosting bats studied to date [ 87 ]. In addition to providing additional insights into the basic life history of these little-known species, this study (1) provided baseline genetic data that can be used in future genetic monitoring of yellow bats; and (2) demonstrated the value of using lower-cost methods, such as microsatellites and mtDNA sequence data, to investigate genetic variation in new species for which genomics tools are not yet available [ 54 ].…”

“…In addition to the strategic monitoring efforts described, we recommend that researchers continue to collect genetic samples from additional bat species that experience wind turbine mortality, especially as wind energy development expands into new areas. For example, Chipps et al [ 87 ] examined patterns of genetic diversity in the southern yellow bat ( Lasiurus ega ) and the northern yellow bat ( Lasiurus intermedius ) using DNA from carcasses collected at wind energy facilities in south Texas, U.S. Yellow bats are in the same genus as hoary bats and eastern red bats, and also collide with wind turbine blades. Wind energy is relatively new in the region and represents a new source of mortality for these species.…”

Genetic identification of bat species for pathogen surveillance across France

“…Morphological identification of bat species is usually carried out on living bats. Some morphological features disappear if the carcasses are not fresh, and identification becomes more complicated, creating a source of errors [ 59 , 60 ].…”

Discordance in maternal and paternal genetic markers in lesser long-nosed bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, a migratory bat: recent expansion to the North and male phylopatry

“…Therefore, we handled parental lineages separately to compare historical demographic patterns and historical distribution (Prugnolle & De Meeus, 2002). In contrast, some non-migratory species exhibit low haplotype diversity as Dasypterus ega and D. intermedia (0.018 and 0.588 respectively; Chipps et al, 2020). We found higher levels of genetic diversity, signals of stronger genetic structure and a nearly constant demographic trajectory for paternal lineages, in contrast with maternal lineages that show lower genetic variation, weak genetic structure and signals of demographic expansion.…”