Population Genetic Structure Within and among Seasonal Site Types in the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the Northern Long-Eared Bat (M. septentrionalis)

Abstract

During late summer and early autumn, temperate bats migrate from their summering sites to swarming sites, where mating likely occurs. However, the extent to which individuals of a single summering site migrate to the same swarming site, and vice versa, is not known. We examined the migratory connectivity between summering and swarming sites in two temperate, North American, bat species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). Using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers, we examined population structuring within and among summering and swarming sites. Both species exhibited moderate degrees of mitochondrial DNA differentiation (little brown bat: FST(SWARMING)= 0.093, FST(SWARMING)= 0.052; northern long-eared bat: FST(SWARMING)= 0.117, FST(SWARMING)= 0.043) and little microsatellite DNA differentiation among summering and among swarming sites. Haplotype diversity was significantly higher at swarming sites than summering sites, supporting the idea that swarming sites are comprised of individuals from various summering sites. Further, pairwise analyses suggest that swarming sites are not necessarily comprised of only individuals from the most proximal summering colonies.

Population genetic structure based on mitochondrial DNA analysis of Ikonnikov’s whiskered bat (Myotis ikonnikovi—Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Korea

“…The genetic diversity of the Korean M. ikonnikovi populations based on Cytb sequences was higher than that calculated using COI sequences; this result is similar to that of Russian populations of Myotis dasycneme (Andersen et al 2019). Other cases of high genetic diversity that are similar to that of the M. ikonnikovi populations herein include Myotis lucifugus and Myotis septentrionalis inhabiting North America; these species, however, were examined using the mitochondrial control region (Johnson et al 2015). The average haplotype diversity (0.491) of European M. myotis using the mitochondrial control region was lower than that of M. ikonnikovi (Ruedi and Castella 2003).…”

Range-wide genetic structure and demographic history in the bat ectoparasite Cimex adjunctus

“…Whereas IBD has not been previously investigated in most bat parasites (but see [33]), it has been investigated in two of the key hosts of C. adjunctus , the big brown bat and the little brown myotis. A relationship between genetic and geographic distance has been observed in both the big brown bat [20] and little brown myotis across a considerably smaller spatial scale [24] than examined here. Range-wide IBD has also been described for little brown myotis [25], based on population-level analyses using F ST .…”

Population genetic structure of the Mediterranean horseshoe bat Rhinolophus euryale in the central Balkans

“…Different factors like seasonal movements, roosting biology, mating strategies and dispersal patterns shape the genetic structure of each species [3]. Comparing the genetic characteristics of individuals from various sites can provide information on population structuring and the degree of gene flow within and across them [4]. Knowledge on species’ genetic structure is a key information to infer future dynamics of the species, and to generate appropriate recommendations for conservation.…”