Somoano, Aitor; Bastos-Silveira, Cristiane; Ventura, Jacint; Miñarro, Marcos; Heckel, Gerald (2022). A Bocage Landscape Restricts the Gene Flow of Pest Vole Populations. Life, 12(6), p. 800. MDPI 10.3390/life12060800
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The population dynamics of most animal species inhabiting agro-ecosystems may be determined by landscape characteristics, with agricultural intensification and the reduction of natural habitats influencing dispersal and hence limiting gene flow. Increasing landscape complexity would thus benefit many endangered species by providing different ecological niches, but it could also lead to undesired effects in species that can act as crop pests and disease reservoirs. We tested the hypothesis that a highly variegated landscape influences patterns of genetic structure in agricultural pest voles. Ten populations of fossorial water vole, Arvicola scherman, located in a bocage landscape in Atlantic NW Spain were studied using DNA microsatellite markers and a graph-based model. The results showed a strong isolation-by-distance pattern with a significant genetic correlation at smaller geographic scales, while genetic differentiation at larger geographic scales indicated a hierarchical pattern of up to eight genetic clusters. A metapopulation-type structure was observed, immersed in a landscape with a low proportion of suitable habitats. Matrix scale rather than matrix heterogeneity per se may have an important effect upon gene flow, acting as a demographic sink. The identification of sub-populations, considered to be independent management units, allows the establishment of feasible population control efforts in this area. These insights support the use of agro-ecological tools aimed at recreating enclosed field systems when planning integrated managements for controlling patch-dependent species such as grassland voles.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Heckel, Gerald |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
ISSN: |
2075-1729 |
Publisher: |
MDPI |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Pubmed Import |
Date Deposited: |
27 Jun 2022 09:13 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 16:21 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.3390/life12060800 |
PubMed ID: |
35743831 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Arvicola scherman cluster structuring gene flow graph-based model isolation-by-distance landscape genetics population structure variegated agricultural landscape |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/170910 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/170910 |
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