Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Inconsistent effects of urbanization on amphibian genetic diversity

View ORCID ProfileChloé Schmidt, View ORCID ProfileColin J Garroway
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.16.253104
Chloé Schmidt
1Department of Biological Sciences, 50 Sifton Rd, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Chloé Schmidt
  • For correspondence: schmid46@myumanitoba.ca colin.garroway@umanitoba.ca
Colin J Garroway
1Department of Biological Sciences, 50 Sifton Rd, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2 Canada
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Colin J Garroway
  • For correspondence: schmid46@myumanitoba.ca colin.garroway@umanitoba.ca
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are leading causes of vertebrate population declines. These declines are thought to be partly due to decreased connectivity and habitat loss reducing population sizes in human transformed habitats. With time this can lead to reduced effective population size and genetic diversity which restricts the ability of wildlife to cope with environmental change through genetic adaptation. However, it is not well understood whether these effects are generally applicable across taxa. Here, we repurposed and synthesized raw microsatellite data from online repositories from 19 amphibian species sampled at 554 sites in North America. For each site, we estimated gene diversity, allelic richness, effective population size, and population differentiation. Using binary urban-rural census designations, and continuous measures of human population density and the Human Footprint Index, we tested for generalizable effects of human land use on amphibian genetic diversity. We found no consistent relationships for any of our genetic metrics. While we did not detect directional effects for most species, a few generalist species responded positively to urbanization. These results contrast with consistent negative effects of urbanization in mammals and species specific positive and negative effects in birds. In the context of widespread amphibian declines, our results suggest that habitat loss in human transformed habitats is a more immediate concern than declining genetic diversity in populations that persist.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted August 17, 2020.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Inconsistent effects of urbanization on amphibian genetic diversity
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Inconsistent effects of urbanization on amphibian genetic diversity
Chloé Schmidt, Colin J Garroway
bioRxiv 2020.08.16.253104; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.16.253104
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Inconsistent effects of urbanization on amphibian genetic diversity
Chloé Schmidt, Colin J Garroway
bioRxiv 2020.08.16.253104; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.16.253104

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4383)
  • Biochemistry (9599)
  • Bioengineering (7094)
  • Bioinformatics (24865)
  • Biophysics (12615)
  • Cancer Biology (9958)
  • Cell Biology (14354)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7950)
  • Ecology (12107)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15989)
  • Genetics (10926)
  • Genomics (14743)
  • Immunology (9870)
  • Microbiology (23676)
  • Molecular Biology (9485)
  • Neuroscience (50872)
  • Paleontology (369)
  • Pathology (1539)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2683)
  • Physiology (4016)
  • Plant Biology (8657)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1509)
  • Synthetic Biology (2397)
  • Systems Biology (6436)
  • Zoology (1346)