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Title:
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Jailed in the mountains: Genetic diversity and structure of an endemic newt species across the Pyrenees
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Author:
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Valbuena-Ureña, Emilio; Oromí Farrús, Neus; Soler-Membrives, Anna; Carranza, Salvador; Amat, Fèlix; Camarasa, Sebastià; Denoël, Mathieu; Guillaume, Olivier; Sanuy i Castells, Delfí; Loyau, Adeline; Schmeller, Dirk S.; Steinfartz, Sebastian
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Notes:
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The Pyrenees represent a natural laboratory for biogeographic, evolutionary and ecological
research of mountain fauna as a result of the high variety of habitats and the profound effect
of the glacial and interglacial periods. There is a paucity of studies providing a detailed
insight into genetic processes and better knowledge on the patterns of genetic diversity and
how they are maintained under high altitude conditions. This is of particular interest when
considering the course of past climate conditions and glaciations in a species which is considered
site tenacious, with long generation times. Here we analyzed the genetic patterns of
diversity and structure of the endemic Pyrenean brook newt (Calotriton asper) along its distribution
range, with special emphasis on the distinct habitat types (caves, streams, and
lakes), and the altitudinal and geographical ranges, using a total set of 900 individuals from
44 different localities across the Pyrenean mountain range genotyped for 19 microsatellite
loci. We found evidence for a negative longitudinal and positive altitudinal gradient of genetic
diversity in C. asper populations. The fact that genetic diversity was markedly higher westwards
is in accordance with other Pyrenean species. However, the impact of altitudinal gradient
on the genetic diversity seems to differ from other species, and mostly from other
amphibians. We found that lower altitudes can act as a barrier probably because the lowlands
do not provide a suitable habitat for C. asper. Regarding the distinct habitat types,
caves had significantly lower values of genetic diversity compared to streams or lakes. The
mean FST value was relatively high (0.304) with maximum values as high as 0.771, suggesting
a highly structured total population. Indeed, populations were grouped into five subclusters,
the eastern populations (cluster 1) remained grouped into two subclusters and the central-western Pyrenees (cluster 2) into three subclusters. The increase of isolation with
geographical distance is consistent with the population structure detected. In conclusion, C.
asper seems to be adapted to high altitude mountain habitats, and its genetic diversity is
higher in the western Pyrenees. In terms of conservation priority, we consider more relevant
the populations that represent a reservoir of genetic diversity.
This work was supported by the Biodiversity Conservation Plan of ENDESA, S.A. (ENEL Group) for DS; the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS under grant numbers J.008.13 and J.0112.16 and Fonds SpeÂciaux de la Recherche for MD. (Senior Research Associate at FRS-FNRS); and the Marie Curie COFUND Fellowship for NO. SC was supported by grant CGL2015-70390-P from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spain (cofunded by FEDER). AL and DSS received funding by the Observatoire Hommes Milleux Haut-Vicdessos. In addition, this work was supported by the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Funds of the Technische UniversitaÈt Braunschweig. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. |
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Rights:
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cc-by (c) Valbuena-Ureña et al., 2018
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Document type:
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Article
Article - Published version |
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Published by:
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Public Library of Science
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