Genetic variation during range expansion: effects of habitat novelty and hybridization.

ABSTRACT: How species' ranges evolve remains an enduring problem in ecology and evolutionary biology. Species' range limits are potentially set by the inability of peripheral populations to adapt to range-edge habitat. Indeed, peripheral populations are often assumed to have reduced genetic diversity and population sizes, which limit evolvability. However, support for this assumption is mixed, possibly because the genetic effects of range expansion depend on two factors: the extent that habitat into which expansion occurs is novel and sources of gene flow. Here, we used spadefoot toads, Spea bombifrons, to contrast the population genetic effects of expansion into novel versus non-novel habitat. We further evaluated gene flow from conspecifics and from heterospecifics via hybridization with a

SUBMITTER: Pierce AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5394663 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature