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Inferring dispersal across a fragmented landscape using reconstructed families in the Glanville fritillary butterfly

Fountain, Toby ; Husby, Arild ; Nonaka, Etsuko LU ; Dileo, Michelle F. ; Korhonen, Janne H. ; Rastas, Pasi ; Schulz, Torsti ; Saastamoinen, Marjo and Hanski, Ilkka (2018) In Evolutionary Applications 11(3). p.287-297
Abstract

Dispersal is important for determining both species ecological processes, such as population viability, and its evolutionary processes, like gene flow and local adaptation. Yet obtaining accurate estimates in the wild through direct observation can be challenging or even impossible, particularly over large spatial and temporal scales. Genotyping many individuals from wild populations can provide detailed inferences about dispersal. We therefore utilized genomewide marker data to estimate dispersal in the classic metapopulation of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia L.), in the Åland Islands in SW Finland. This is an ideal system to test the effectiveness of this approach due to the wealth of information already available... (More)

Dispersal is important for determining both species ecological processes, such as population viability, and its evolutionary processes, like gene flow and local adaptation. Yet obtaining accurate estimates in the wild through direct observation can be challenging or even impossible, particularly over large spatial and temporal scales. Genotyping many individuals from wild populations can provide detailed inferences about dispersal. We therefore utilized genomewide marker data to estimate dispersal in the classic metapopulation of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia L.), in the Åland Islands in SW Finland. This is an ideal system to test the effectiveness of this approach due to the wealth of information already available covering dispersal across small spatial and temporal scales, but lack of information at larger spatial and temporal scales. We sampled three larvae per larval family group from 3732 groups over a six-year period and genotyped for 272 SNPs across the genome. We used this empirical data set to reconstruct cases where full-sibs were detected in different local populations to infer female effective dispersal distance, that is, dispersal events directly contributing to gene flow. On average this was one kilometre, closely matching previous dispersal estimates made using direct observation. To evaluate our power to detect full-sib families, we performed forward simulations using an individual-based model constructed and parameterized for the Glanville fritillary metapopulation. Using these simulations, 100% of predicted full-sibs were correct and over 98% of all true full-sib pairs were detected. We therefore demonstrate that even in a highly dynamic system with a relatively small number of markers, we can accurately reconstruct full-sib families and for the first time make inferences on female effective dispersal. This highlights the utility of this approach in systems where it has previously been impossible to obtain accurate estimates of dispersal over both ecological and evolutionary scales.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Colonization, COLONY, Conservation genetics, Dispersal, Melitaea cinxia, Sibship reconstruction
in
Evolutionary Applications
volume
11
issue
3
pages
287 - 297
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85031494909
ISSN
1752-4571
DOI
10.1111/eva.12552
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7812eb43-5f20-4ec3-8490-a173f449a01c
date added to LUP
2017-10-30 09:33:18
date last changed
2022-03-17 01:58:53
@article{7812eb43-5f20-4ec3-8490-a173f449a01c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Dispersal is important for determining both species ecological processes, such as population viability, and its evolutionary processes, like gene flow and local adaptation. Yet obtaining accurate estimates in the wild through direct observation can be challenging or even impossible, particularly over large spatial and temporal scales. Genotyping many individuals from wild populations can provide detailed inferences about dispersal. We therefore utilized genomewide marker data to estimate dispersal in the classic metapopulation of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia L.), in the Åland Islands in SW Finland. This is an ideal system to test the effectiveness of this approach due to the wealth of information already available covering dispersal across small spatial and temporal scales, but lack of information at larger spatial and temporal scales. We sampled three larvae per larval family group from 3732 groups over a six-year period and genotyped for 272 SNPs across the genome. We used this empirical data set to reconstruct cases where full-sibs were detected in different local populations to infer female effective dispersal distance, that is, dispersal events directly contributing to gene flow. On average this was one kilometre, closely matching previous dispersal estimates made using direct observation. To evaluate our power to detect full-sib families, we performed forward simulations using an individual-based model constructed and parameterized for the Glanville fritillary metapopulation. Using these simulations, 100% of predicted full-sibs were correct and over 98% of all true full-sib pairs were detected. We therefore demonstrate that even in a highly dynamic system with a relatively small number of markers, we can accurately reconstruct full-sib families and for the first time make inferences on female effective dispersal. This highlights the utility of this approach in systems where it has previously been impossible to obtain accurate estimates of dispersal over both ecological and evolutionary scales.</p>}},
  author       = {{Fountain, Toby and Husby, Arild and Nonaka, Etsuko and Dileo, Michelle F. and Korhonen, Janne H. and Rastas, Pasi and Schulz, Torsti and Saastamoinen, Marjo and Hanski, Ilkka}},
  issn         = {{1752-4571}},
  keywords     = {{Colonization; COLONY; Conservation genetics; Dispersal; Melitaea cinxia; Sibship reconstruction}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{287--297}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Evolutionary Applications}},
  title        = {{Inferring dispersal across a fragmented landscape using reconstructed families in the Glanville fritillary butterfly}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eva.12552}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/eva.12552}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}