The influence of environmental variation on the genetic structure of a poison frog distributed across continuous Amazonian rainforest

Ferreira, A; Lima, AP; Jehle, R; Ferrao, M; Stow, A

Abstract

Biogeographic barriers such as rivers have been shown to shape spatial patterns of biodiversity in the Amazon basin, yet relatively little is known about the distribution of genetic variation across continuous rainforest. Here, we characterize the genetic structure of the brilliant-thighed poison frog (Allobates femoralis) across an 880 km long transect along the Purus-Madeira interfluve south of the Amazon river, based on 64 individuals genotyped at 7 609 SNP loci. A population tree and clustering analyses revealed four distinct genetic groups, one of which was strongly divergent. These genetic groups were concomitant with femoral spot coloration differences, which was intermediate within a zone of admixture between two of the groups. The location of these genetic groups did not consistently correspond to current ecological transitions between major forest types. A multi-model approach to quantify the relative influence of isolation-by-distance (IBD) and isolation-by-environmental resistance (IBR) nevertheless revealed that, in addition to a strong signal of IBD, spatial genetic differentiation was explained by IBR primarily linked to dry season intensity (r 2 = 8.4%) and canopy cover (r 2 = 6.4%). We show significant phylogenetic divergence in the absence of obvious biogeographical barriers and that finer-scaled measures of genetic structure show patterns that are associated with environmental variables also known to predict the density of A. femoralis.

Citation

Ferreira, A., Lima, A., Jehle, R., Ferrao, M., & Stow, A. (2020). The influence of environmental variation on the genetic structure of a poison frog distributed across continuous Amazonian rainforest. Journal of Heredity, 111(5), 457-470. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa034

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 17, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 22, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 18, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 26, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 22, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Heredity
• Print ISSN: 0022-1503
• Electronic ISSN: 1465-7333
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Volume: 111
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 457-470
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa034
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa034
• Related Public URLs: http://jhered.oxfordjournals.org/
• Additional Information: Access Information : This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Heredity following peer review. The version of record Anthony S Ferreira, Albertina P Lima, Robert Jehle, Miquéias Ferrão, Adam Stow, The influence of environmental variation on the genetic structure of a poison frog distributed across continuous Amazonian rainforest, Journal of Heredity, esaa034 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa034