Intact landscape promotes gene flow and low genetic structuring in the threatened Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake.

ABSTRACT: Genetic structuring of wild populations is dependent on environmental, ecological, and life-history factors. The specific role environmental context plays in genetic structuring is important to conservation practitioners working with rare species across areas with varying degrees of fragmentation. We investigated fine-scale genetic patterns of the federally threatened Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) on a relatively undisturbed island in northern Michigan, USA. This species often persists in habitat islands throughout much of its distribution due to extensive habitat loss and distance-limited dispersal. We found that the entire island population exhibited weak genetic structuring with spatially segregated variation in effective migration and genetic diversity. Th

SUBMITTER: Kudla N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8207425 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature