Role of individual dispersal in genetic resilience in fluctuating populations of the gray‐sided vole Myodes rufocanus
Open Access
- 21 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Ecology and Evolution
- Vol. 11 (7), 3407-3421
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7300
Abstract
Population densities of the gray‐sided vole Myodes rufocanus fluctuate greatly within and across years in Japan. Here, to investigate the role of individual dispersal in maintaining population genetic diversity, we examined how genetic diversity varied during fluctuations in density by analyzing eight microsatellite loci in voles sampled three times per year for 5 years, using two fixed trapping grids (approximately 0.5 ha each). At each trapping session, all captured voles at each trapping grid were removed. The STRUCTURE program was used to analyze serially collected samples to examine how population crashes were related to temporal variability, based on local‐scale genetic compositions in each population. In total, 461 and 527 voles were captured at each trapping grid during this study. The number of voles captured during each trapping session (i.e., vole density) varied considerably at both grids. Although patterns in fluctuations were not synchronized between grids, the peak densities were similar. At both grids, the mean allele number recorded at each trapping session was strongly, positively, and nonlinearly correlated with density. STRUCTURE analyses revealed that the proportions of cluster compositions among individuals at each grid differed markedly before and after the crash phase, implying the long‐distance dispersal of voles from remote areas at periods of low density. The present results suggest that, in gray‐sided vole populations, genetic diversity varies with density largely at the local scale; in contrast, genetic variation in a metapopulation is well‐preserved at the regional scale due to the density‐dependent dispersal behaviors of individuals. By influencing the dispersal patterns of individuals, fluctuations in density affect metapopulation structure spatially and temporally, while the levels of genetic diversity are preserved in a metapopulation.This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit:
- Maintenance of genetic diversity in cyclic populations—a longitudinal analysis inMyodes glareolusEcology and Evolution, 2012
- Inferring weak population structure with the assistance of sample group informationMolecular Ecology Resources, 2009
- Role of male‐biased dispersal in inbreeding avoidance in the grey‐sided vole (Myodes rufocanus)Molecular Ecology, 2008
- Effect of Local Density of Males on the Occurrence of Multimale Mating in Gray-sided Voles (Myodes rufocanus)Journal of Mammalogy, 2008
- genepop’007: a complete re‐implementation of the genepop software for Windows and LinuxMolecular Ecology Resources, 2008
- genalex 6: genetic analysis in Excel. Population genetic software for teaching and researchMolecular Ecology Notes, 2005
- Detecting the number of clusters of individuals using the software structure: a simulation studyMolecular Ecology, 2005
- Coyote movements and social structure along a cryptic population genetic subdivisionMolecular Ecology, 2005
- micro‐checker: software for identifying and correcting genotyping errors in microsatellite dataMolecular Ecology Notes, 2004
- Polymorphic microsatellite DNA markers in the grey red‐backed vole Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiaeMolecular Ecology, 1995