Strongly diverging population genetic patterns of three skipper species: the role of habitat fragmentation and dispersal ability

Abstract

The fragmentation of landscapes has an important impact on the conservation of biodiversity, and the genetic diversity is an important factor for a populations viability, influenced by the landscape structure. However, different species with differing ecological demands react rather different on the same landscape pattern. To address this feature, we studied three skipper species with differing habitat requirements (Lulworth Skipper Thymelicus acteon: a habitat specialist with low dispersal ability, Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris: a habitat generalist with low dispersal ability, Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola: a habitat generalist with higher dispersal ability). We analysed 18 allozyme loci for 1,063 individuals in our western German study region with adjoining areas in Luxembourg and north-eastern France. The genetic diversity of all three species were intermediate in comparison with other butterfly species. The F ST was relatively high for T. acteon (5.1%), low for T. sylvestris (1.6%) and not significant for T. lineola. Isolation by distance analyses revealed a significant correlation for T. sylvestris explaining 20.3% of its differentiation, but no such structure was found for the two other species. Most likely, the high dispersal ability of T. lineola in comparison with T. sylvestris leads to a more or less panmictic structure and hence impedes isolation by distance. On the other hand, the isolation of the populations of T. acteon seems to be so strict that the populations develop independently. Although no general genetic impoverishing was observed for the endangered T. acteon, small populations had significantly lower genetic diversities than big populations, and therefore the high degree of isolation among populations might threaten its local and regional survival.

Population isolation rather than ecological variation explains the genetic structure of endangered myrmecophilous butterfly Phengaris (=Maculinea) arion

“…Genetic differentiation among populations of sedentary species of butterflies whose habitat is specific, and highly fragmented, is higher than for mobile generalists (Louy et al 2007 and references therein). We found small yet significant genetic structure in the Polish population of P. arion.…”

Intra- and inter-individual variations in flight direction in a migratory butterfly co-vary with individual mobility

“…In addition, these traits have been described as being fundamental to dispersal capacity (Baguette et al, 2000;Berwaerts et al, 2002;Louy et al, 2007;Ockinger et al, 2010;Sekar, 2012;Stevens et al, 2012). We thus used a measure of these two traits on 70 butterflies (10 males and 9 females in total from breeding families A, C and D, and 30 males and 21 females in total from field families E, G, L, M, O, P and S) to test for their relationship with flight direction.…”

Land management impacts on European butterflies of conservation concern: a review

“…For example, overgrown localities with high grasses and abundant shrubs are optimal sites for Lycaena helle (Skórka et al 2007;Habel et al 2011b), and Carcharodus lavatherae (Esper, 1783) (Coutsis and Ghavalás 2001). Thymelicus acteon (Rottemburg, 1775) is another species that profits from succession in its early stages (Beneš et al 2002;Louy et al 2007). In all such cases, fallowing may constitute a viable management option; however, it can be utilized only for a limited time period since the continuation of succession, beyond a certain stage, inevitably results in habitat quality deterioration (Skórka et al 2007).…”