DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Riverscape genetics: testing the role of river properties with population-genetic models in Neotropical freshwater fishes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Genetic data can provide a window in the factors that structure and drive divergence among populations. In this study, we will use such data to reveal how current and past landscapes features determine population structure. Such inferences, however, are challenging without methodologies to predict the genetic signature under such conditions. The proposed work will be a step towards addressing this knowledge gap with an application to a freshwater fish biodiversity hotspot, the Atlantic Coastal Rainforest of Brazil. The proposed work will provide critical knowledge about freshwater fishes in this particular ecosystem, as well as be broadly applicable to riverine environments in other world regions. The project provide insights into the properties of rivers that make them critical to conservation efforts because of their impact in population persistence and movement patterns of organisms living in the rivers. The PIs will also collaborate with Brazilian students on this project, promoting international scientific engagement. This research will use computer simulations to generate expected patterns of genetic variation so the impact of specific river properties (e.g., the length of river segments, the number of connecting tributaries, and the flow regime) on movement patterns of an endemic tetra can be discerned. Such a mechanistic understanding will be instrumental to interpreting past studies that have documented differences in genetic variation between different regions. The tests developed here will allow re-evaluation of those prior studies to determine what processes structuring biodiversity might differ among regions. As such, the work will provide a general tool that can advance our understanding of the processes generating biodiversity patterns.