A genetic discontinuity in moose (Alces alces) in Alaska corresponds with fenced transportation infrastructure

Abstract

The strength and arrangement of movement barriers can impact the connectivity among habitat patches. Anthropogenic barriers (e.g. roads) are a source of habitat fragmentation that can disrupt these resource networks and can have an influence on the spatial genetic structure of populations. Using microsatellite data, we evaluated whether observed genetic structure of moose (Alces alces) populations were associated with human activities (e.g. roads) in the urban habitat of Anchorage and rural habitat on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. We found evidence of a recent genetic subdivision among moose in Anchorage that corresponds to a major highway and associated infrastructure. This subdivision is most likely due to restrictions in gene flow due to alterations to the highway (e.g. mooseresistant fencing with one-way gates) and a significant increase in traffic volume over the past 30 years; genetic subdivision was not detected on the Kenai Peninsula in an area not bisected by a major highway. This study illustrates that anthropogenic barriers can substructure wildlife populations within a few generations and highlights the value of genetic assessments to determine the effects on connectivity among habitat patches in conjunction with behavioral and ecological data.

Parnassius apollo nevadensis: identification of recent population structure and source–sink dynamics

“…Unlike the Bayesian clustering methods, the multivariate techniques make no assumptions regarding HWE or LD that may account for spatial autocorrelation issues such as neighbour mating and sample distribution, and therefore are complementary to Bayesian approaches (Wilson et al 2015).…”

Landscape genetics in a changing world: disentangling historical and contemporary influences and inferring change

“…; Wilson et al . ). We recommend that any landscape genetic study should at least discuss the potential for, and implications of, time lags in that system.…”

“…The majority of such studies still fail to consider whether time lags are likely (e.g. Locher et al 2015;Wilson et al 2015). We recommend that any landscape genetic study should at least discuss the potential for, and implications of, time lags in that system.…”

Caught in the mesh: roads and their network‐scale impediment to animal movement

“…When it comes to animal movements, ecologists have primarily studied roads as local barriers (Riley et al , Sawaya et al , Proctor et al , Wilson et al ). We think two primary challenges have hindered the move up and across scale: 1) the conceptual focus on the process of crossing or not‐crossing linear barriers and 2) the scope of the empirical data typically used to study wildlife movements.…”

“…Genetic sampling can yield individual‐based data at the population and landscape level, which are in turn used to study a variety of natural phenomena associated with wild populations and communities, including abundance and population dynamics, which were formerly reserved for studies involving physical mark–recapture (Boulanger et al , Mondol et al , Cubaynes et al ). Genetic methods have already proved useful for exploring road effects at both local and landscape scales (reviewed by Balkenhol and Waits ), although when applied within road ecology, the focus has remained on quantifying barrier effects on local genetic connectivity (Sawaya et al , Wilson et al ).…”