DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Landscape Correlates of Population Genetic Structure in Three Vertebrate Species

保护生物学的一个主要目标是保护种群的进化潜力，通常以遗传多样性来衡量。然而，由于采样限制或开发和筛选分子标记的高昂成本，对稀有物种进行遗传多样性调查可能很困难。因为生物体的环境可以极大地影响遗传变异的模式，所以问是否有自然景观的特征可以作为种群遗传结构的替代品是合乎逻辑的。同样，一个物种的种群遗传结构能否从系统发育或生态相关物种的遗传结构中推断出来？我们正在使用微卫星标记、地理信息系统技术以及多元和空间统计，在加州北部湖泊、池塘和草地上栖息的三种脊椎动物的比较框架内探索潜在的遗传结构景观替代品。我试图了解景观结构和遗传结构之间的关系，以及这些相互作用如何在具有不同但相关的进化和自然历史的物种之间变化。这一新方法的更广泛影响将通过人口遗传学、景观生态学和群落生物学的整合而感受到，这对应用管理实践具有直接影响。

A principal goal of conservation biology is the preservation of a population's evolutionary potential, frequently measured as genetic diversity. Conducting surveys of genetic diversity in rare species, however, may be difficult due to sampling limitations or high costs of developing and screening molecular markers. Because an organism's environment can greatly influence patterns of genetic variation, it is logical to ask if there are features of the physical landscape that can be used as surrogates for population genetic structure. Similarly, can the population genetic structure of one species be inferred from that of phylogenetically or ecologically related species? We are using microsatellite markers, GIS techniques and multivariate and spatial statistics to explore potential landscape surrogates of genetic structure in a comparative framework of three vertebrate species inhabiting lakes, ponds and meadows in northern California. I seek to understand the relationship between landscape structure and genetic structure, as well as how these interactions vary among species with different, yet related, evolutionary and natural histories. The broader impacts of this novel approach will felt through an integration of population genetics, landscape ecology and community biology that has direct implications for applied management practices.