Population delimitation across contrasting evolutionary clines in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).

ABSTRACT: Despite current interest in population genetics, a concrete definition of a "population" remains elusive. Multiple ecologically and evolutionarily based definitions of population are in current use, which focus, respectively, on demographic and genetic interactions. Accurate population delimitation is crucial for not only evolutionary and ecological population biology, but also for conservation of threatened populations. Along the Pacific Coast of North America, two contrasting patterns of geographic variation in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) converge within the state of Oregon. Populations of these mice diverge morphologically across an east-west axis, and they diverge in mitochondrial DNA haplotypes across a north-south axis. In this study, we investigate these geographically contra

SUBMITTER: Yang DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3287378 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature