Adaptive divergence along environmental gradients in a climate-change-sensitive mammal.

ABSTRACT: In the face of predicted climate change, a broader understanding of biotic responses to varying environments has become increasingly important within the context of biodiversity conservation. Local adaptation is one potential option, yet remarkably few studies have harnessed genomic tools to evaluate the efficacy of this response within natural populations. Here, we show evidence of selection driving divergence of a climate-change-sensitive mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps), distributed along elevation gradients at its northern range margin in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia (BC), Canada. We employed amplified-fragment-length-polymorphism-based genomic scans to conduct genomewide searches for candidate loci among populations inhabiting varying environments from sea leve

SUBMITTER: Henry P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3810883 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature