Inbreeding reduces fitness in spatially structured populations of a threatened rattlesnake.

ABSTRACT: Small and fragmented populations are at high risk of local extinction, in part because of elevated inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression. A major conservation priority is to identify the mechanisms and extent of inbreeding depression in small populations. The eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) rattlesnake is listed as Federally Threatened in the United States, having experienced significant habitat fragmentation and concomitant population declines over the past 200 years. Here, we use long-term monitoring of two wild populations of eastern massasaugas in Michigan to estimate the extent of inbreeding in each population, identify mechanisms that generate inbreeding, and test for the impact of inbreeding on fitness. Using targeted genomic data and spatial coordinates of

SUBMITTER: Clark MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12403008 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature