Combining Bayesian genetic clustering and ecological niche modeling: Insights into wolf intraspecific genetic structure ...

• Main Authors: Milanesi, Pietro, Caniglia, Romolo, Fabbri, Elena, Puopolo, Felice, Galaverni, Marco, Holderegger, Rolf
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2018
• Subjects: Canis lupus; genetic clustering; human disturbance; landscape genetics; mixed‐effects models; n‐dimensional hypervolume
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000310189; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/310189

The distribution of intraspecific genetic variation and how it relates to environmental factors is of increasing interest to researchers in macroecology and biogeography. Recent studies investigated the relationships between the environment and patterns of intraspecific genetic variation across species ranges but only few rigorously tested the relation between genetic groups and their ecological niches. We quantified the relationship of genetic differentiation (FST) and the overlap of ecological niches (as measured by n‐dimensional hypervolumes) among genetic groups resulting from spatial Bayesian genetic clustering in the wolf (Canis lupus) in the Italian peninsula. Within the Italian wolf population, four genetic clusters were detected, and these clusters showed different ecological niches. Moreover, different wolf clusters were significantly related to differences in land cover and human disturbance features. Such differences in the ecological niches of genetic clusters should be interpreted in light of ... : Ecology and Evolution, 8 (22) ...