Dispersal responses override density effects on genetic diversity during post-disturbance succession.

ABSTRACT: Dispersal fundamentally influences spatial population dynamics but little is known about dispersal variation in landscapes where spatial heterogeneity is generated predominantly by disturbance and succession. We tested the hypothesis that habitat succession following fire inhibits dispersal, leading to declines over time in genetic diversity in the early successional gecko Nephrurus stellatus We combined a landscape genetics field study with a spatially explicit simulation experiment to determine whether successional patterns in genetic diversity were driven by habitat-mediated dispersal or demographic effects (declines in population density leading to genetic drift). Initial increases in genetic structure following fire were likely driven by direct mortality and rapid population expansion

SUBMITTER: Smith AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4822457 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature