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Pleistocene climatic fluctuations explain the disjunct distribution and complex phylogeographic structure of the Southern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon serratus

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Abstract

The southeastern United States (U.S.) has experienced dynamic climatic changes over the past several million years that have impacted species distributions. In many cases, contiguous ranges were fragmented and a lack of gene flow between allopatric populations led to genetic divergence and speciation. The Southern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon serratus, inhabits four widely disjunct regions of the southeastern U.S.: the southern Appalachian Mountains, the Ozark Plateau, the Ouachita Mountains, and the Southern Tertiary Uplands of central Louisiana. We integrated phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences (1399 base pairs) with ecological niche modeling to test the hypothesis that climate fluctuations during the Pleistocene drove the isolation and divergence of disjunct populations of P. serratus. Appalachian, Ozark, and Louisiana populations each formed well-supported clades in our phylogeny. Ouachita Mountain populations sorted into two geographically distinct clades; one Ouachita clade was sister to the Louisiana clade whereas the other Ouachita clade grouped with the Appalachian and Ozark clades but relationships were unresolved. Plethodon serratus diverged from its sister taxon, P. sherando, ~5.4 million years ago (Ma), and lineage diversification within P. serratus occurred ~1.9–0.6 Ma (Pleistocene). Ecological niche models showed that the four geographic isolates of P. serratus are currently separated by unsuitable habitat, but the species was likely more continuously distributed during the colder climates of the Pleistocene. Our results support the hypothesis that climate-induced environmental changes during the Pleistocene played a dominant role in driving isolation and divergence of disjunct populations of P. serratus.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (#092720102), Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (S-NHCC-10-019), Missouri Department of Conservation (#14775), Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LNHP-10-089), Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (#4970), and University of Central Arkansas Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC #11-002) for granting permits and permissions. Also, we also thank C. Austin, B. Fitzpatrick, K. Irwin, J. Briggler, J. Boundy, B. Cash, G. Adams, A. Lewis, K. Pyatt, and the graduate students at UCA for help in project development, field collections, and lab techniques. We thank the Louisiana Museum of Natural History at Louisiana State University (LSUMZ) and Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota (JFBM) for sample loans. We thank K. Kozak for providing the alignment of DNA sequences from his 2009 paper and the University of Central Arkansas for funding.

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  1. David E. Starkey

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, TX, 78209, USA

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., LSC 180, Conway, AR, 72035, USA

    Benjamin D. Thesing, Richard D. Noyes, David E. Starkey & Donald B. Shepard

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Thesing, B.D., Noyes, R.D., Starkey, D.E. et al. Pleistocene climatic fluctuations explain the disjunct distribution and complex phylogeographic structure of the Southern Red-backed Salamander, Plethodon serratus . Evol Ecol 30, 89–104 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-015-9794-3

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