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Flow regulation associated with decreased genetic health of a river-breeding frog species

bioRxiv, ISSN: 2692-8205
2018
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  • Citations
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Article Description

River regulation, or the hydrological alteration of flow by dams and diversions, has been implicated as a cause of fundamental changes to downstream aquatic ecosystems. Regulation changes the natural flow regime which may restrict population connectivity and decrease genetic diversity in some species. Since population connectivity and the maintenance of genetic diversity are fundamental drivers of long-term persistence, understanding the extent which river regulation impacts these critical attributes of genetic health is an important goal. Foothill yellow-legged frog (FYLF; Rana boylii) were historically abundant throughout many western rivers but have declined since the onset of regulation. However, the extent to which FYLF populations in regulated rivers are maintaining connectivity and genetic diversity is unknown. Here we use genetic methods to investigate the impacts of river regulation on FYLF to explore their potential for long-term persistence under continued regulation. We found FYLF in regulated rivers showed striking patterns of isolation and trajectories of genetic diversity loss relative to unregulated rivers. For example, river regulation explained the greatest amount of variance in population genetic differentiation compared with other covariates including geographic distance. Importantly, patterns of connectivity and genetic diversity loss were observed regardless of regulation level but were most prominent in locations with the greatest regulation intensity. Although our results do not bode well for long-term persistence of FYLF populations under current flow regulation regimes, they do highlight the power of genetic monitoring for assessing population health in aquatic organisms.

Bibliographic Details

Peek, Ryan A.; O’Rourke, Sean M.; Miller, Michael R.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Agricultural and Biological Sciences; Immunology and Microbiology; Neuroscience; Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

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