Urban hubs of connectivity: contrasting patterns of gene flow within and among cities in the western black widow spider.

ABSTRACT: As urbanization drastically alters the natural landscape and generates novel habitats within cities, the potential for changes to gene flow for urban-dwelling species increases. The western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) is a medically relevant urban adapter pest species, for which we have previously identified population genetic signatures consistent with urbanization facilitating gene flow, likely due to human-mediated transport. Here, in an analysis of 1.9 million genome-wide SNPs, we contrast broad-scale geographical analyses of 10 urban and 11 non-urban locales with fine-scale within-city analyses including 30 urban locales across the western USA. These hierarchical datasets enable us to test hypotheses of how urbanization impacts multiple urban cities and their gene

SUBMITTER: Miles LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6111156 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature