Population Genetics of Species Delimitation: Methodology & Application of a Unified Approach to Inferring Species Boundaries

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The use of DNA for inferring species boundaries offers great promise. However, limitations with the current methodologies pose serious obstacles. The accuracy of such inferences can be questionable because determining a species identity often depends on the type of data used. This project will apply recent theoretical and methodological advances developed in population genetics to determine species limits. The Caribbean cricket genus Amphiacusta will be used to explore ways in which population genetic models and alternative sampling designs can improve the accuracy of inferred species boundaries when different types of data and different rates of divergence exist among populations.The methods developed by the project will enable improved sampling design for a diversity of approaches used in species delimitation, including those applied in conservation biology and DNA-barcoding initiatives. The results of these analyses will also produce recommendations about how genetic data, including data from multiple loci, can be combined with other data types to produce a unified approach for recognizing species. These tools will be of use for a wide range of taxa, and are expected to impact a large cross-section of disciplines given the central role that species, and their delimitation, play in biology and society at large.