Topographic barriers drive the pronounced genetic subdivision of a range-limited fossorial rodent

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F24%3A43908444" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/24:43908444 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17271" target="_blank" >https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17271</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.17271" target="_blank" >10.1111/mec.17271</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Topographic barriers drive the pronounced genetic subdivision of a range-limited fossorial rodent

Original language description

Due to their limited dispersal ability, fossorial species with predominantly belowground activity usually show increased levels of population subdivision across relatively small spatial scales. This may be exacerbated in harsh mountain ecosystems, where landscape geomorphology limits species&apos; dispersal ability and leads to small effective population sizes, making species relatively vulnerable to environmental change. To better understand the environmental drivers of species&apos; population subdivision in remote mountain ecosystems, particularly in understudied high-elevation systems in Africa, we studied the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a fossorial rodent confined to the afro-alpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. Using mitochondrial and low-coverage nuclear genomes, we investigated 77 giant root-rat individuals sampled from nine localities across its entire similar to 1000 km(2) range. Our data revealed a distinct division into a northern and southern group, with no signs of gene flow, and higher nuclear genetic diversity in the south. Landscape genetic analyses of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes indicated that population subdivision was driven by slope and elevation differences of up to 500 m across escarpments separating the north and south, potentially reinforced by glaciation of the south during the Late Pleistocene (similar to 42,000-16,000 years ago). Despite this landscape-scale subdivision between the north and south, weak geographic structuring of sampling localities within regions indicated gene flow across distances of at least 16 km at the local scale, suggesting high, aboveground mobility for relatively long distances. Our study highlights that despite the potential for local-scale gene flow in fossorial species, topographic barriers can result in pronounced genetic subdivision. These factors can reduce genetic variability, which should be considered when developing conservation strategies.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Molecular Ecology

ISSN

0962-1083

e-ISSN

1365-294X

Volume of the periodical

33

Issue of the periodical within the volume

5

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

16

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

001152055200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85183673848