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Microsatellite variation, population structure, and bottlenecks in the threatened copperbelly water snake

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Abstract

Habitat loss and isolation is pervasive in the Midwest U.S. Wetlands are experiencing particularly dramatic declines, yet there is a paucity of information on the genetic impacts of these losses to obligate wetland vertebrates. We quantified the genetic variation of extant populations of a shallow wetland specialist and evaluated potential reductions in population size (i.e. bottlenecks) using seven polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers. We analyzed 228 copperbelly water snakes (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta), representing populations from three states. Moderate genetic differentiation exists among all three regions (F ST = 0.12, P < 0.001), with evidence for low levels of differentiation within the federally protected Ohio region (F ST = 0.025, P = 0.007), and moderate to strong differentiation within the Indiana region (F ST = 0.23, P < 0.001). Furthermore, Bayesian clustering (i.e. STRUCTURE) supports the separation of the Indiana sites, both from each other and from all other sampling sites. However, it does not support the separation of the Ohio sites from the Kentucky sites. Differentiation among sampling sites did not appear to be related to geographic distance, but rather depended on the quality of terrestrial corridors used for dispersal. Mode shifts in allele frequencies and excess heterozygosity tests were negative, while M-ratio tests were nearly all positive, indicating the likelihood of historical rather than contemporary population bottlenecks. However, potential subspecific intergradation in the Kentucky region may have artificially lowered the M-ratio, and we suggest caution when using the M-ratio approach if intergradation is suspected. Our results have conservation implications for wetland management and management of the copperbelly populations, and emphasizes the importance of protecting wetland complexes.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support for this project was provided by the Indiana Academy of Science, the Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management (Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne), and Purdue University. The study was conducted under Purdue University Animal Care and Use Committee approval (04–023), Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources scientific collection permit (SC0611073), Indiana Department of Natural Resources collection permit (06-0029), Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge Special Use permit (31530–06005), and Federal permit (TE839779-6). We thank Mike Morton and his staff at Sloughs State Fish and Wildlife Management Area for their field assistance and tissue collection at our two Kentucky sites. Marc Webber, Susan Knowles, Theresa Daily, Cameron Young, Zack Walker, and many field volunteers and refuge interns aided in tissue collection at MNWR and Austin. John Roe, Nathan Herbert, and Yu Man Lee assisted in tissue collection from our Ohio sites. Additionally, Robert Makowsky collected the yellowbelly tissue from Alabama. Monika Zavodna, Emily Latch, and many others were very helpful in the laboratory. Joe Busch provided insightful suggestions for the bottleneck analyses. Finally, we are grateful for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript by Mark Jordan, Joe Busch, and especially Rick Howard.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    John C. Marshall Jr. & Dennis J. Minchella

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN, 46805, USA

    John C. Marshall Jr. & Bruce A. Kingsbury

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  1. John C. Marshall Jr.
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Marshall, J.C., Kingsbury, B.A. & Minchella, D.J. Microsatellite variation, population structure, and bottlenecks in the threatened copperbelly water snake. Conserv Genet 10, 465–476 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-008-9624-z

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