Abstract
Population persistence depends in many cases on gene flow between local populations. Parnassius apollo nevadensis is an endemic subspecies of Apollo butterfly in the Sierra Nevada (southern Spain), whose populations are distributed in discrete patches at altitudes between 1850 and 2700 m. In this paper, we use 13 microsatellite loci to examine the genetic structure of this P. apollo subspecies. We revealed both a strong pattern of isolation by distance (which was stronger when calculated with realistic travel distances that accounted for topography) and source–sink dynamics. The observed population genetic structure is consistent with strongly asymmetrical gene flow, leading to constant directional migration and differential connectivity among the populations. The apparently contradictory results from the clustering algorithms (Structure and Geneland) are also consistent with a recent (<100 ya) reduction in the distribution range. The results point to global warming as a possible cause of this reduction, as in other populations of this species. We identify some natural and anthropogenic barriers to gene flow that may be the cause of the recent population structure and source–sink dynamics.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the regional government of Andalucía (Junta de Andalucía) for sampling permission and for facilitating sample collection, and also for the financial support that mainly came from the Proyectos de Excelencia scheme (P08-RNM-03820). We would like to thank the Managers of the National Park of Sierra Nevada for granting permission to carry out the work. OM and CBSP were supported by postgraduate and postdoctoral grants provided the Andalucía government. DAD is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK. We also thank Steeves Buckland for his advice regarding analyses.
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Mira, Ó., Sánchez-Prieto, C.B., Dawson, D.A. et al. Parnassius apollo nevadensis: identification of recent population structure and source–sink dynamics. Conserv Genet 18, 837–851 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-0931-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-0931-0