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The role of spatial processes and environmental determinants in microgeographic shell variation of the freshwater snail Chilina dombeyana (Bruguière, 1789)

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Abstract

Wildlife data often show spatial organization, demonstrating positive correlations either as a result of processes occurring over the landscape or due to the influence of spatially structured environmental variables. It is, thus, essential to consider non-random spatial structure when evaluating the underlying causes of biological variation. In this study, we analyzed the population structure of Chilina dombeyana shell morphology of 14 populations that are close geographically and belong to the same hydrographic basin. We utilized a variation partitioning approach to evaluate the importance of spatial processes, such as migration, acting over the landscape, and environmental characteristics, including habitat and hydrologic characteristics, and the occurrence of aquatic predators in promoting between population variation. Our results demonstrate spatially structured variation in C. dombeyana shell morphology, with populations living near each other having more similar shell sizes than populations living farther apart. The shell size variation partition indicated that both spatially structured environmental factors and genetic relationships resulting from migration or shared common ancestry may explain this pattern. Shell shape variation, in contrast, was found to be essentially under the influence of non-spatially structured environmental factors, with habitat and water characteristics accounting for about half of the total variation among populations. The large proportion of the variation in shell size that is spatially structured demonstrates that spatial structure on morphological traits might be strong and highlights the need to consider such phenomenon in intraspecific studies of phenotypic evolution.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gabriela Mancilla, Mariela Henriquez, Gina Ramirez, and Hugo Benítez de la Fuente for technical assistance; Waldo San Martín, Margarita Marchant, Ernesto Toledo, Domingo Galdame, and Jéssica Bórquez for their help with sample collection; Fernanda Herrera for the drawing of the shell; and Lafayette Eaton and Paul B. Samollow for revising the English of the manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from the Chilean National Research Agency FONDECYT #1090404. NG was also partially supported by the project INNOVA-CORFO #06FC01IBC-71 from the Chilean Agency for Economic Development.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest and that the experiments comply with the current laws of Chile.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Serena, Benavente 980, Casilla 599, La Serena, Chile

    Angéline Bertin

  2. Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Victor H. Ruíz

  3. Centro de Ciencias Ambientales EULA-CHILE, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Ricardo Figueroa

  4. Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Campus Guayacán, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Nicolas Gouin

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  1. Angéline Bertin
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Correspondence to Angéline Bertin.

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Communicated by: Sven Thatje

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Bertin, A., Ruíz, V.H., Figueroa, R. et al. The role of spatial processes and environmental determinants in microgeographic shell variation of the freshwater snail Chilina dombeyana (Bruguière, 1789). Naturwissenschaften 99, 225–232 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0890-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0890-8

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