Biothermal contrasts while travelling in or between Poland and Bulgaria

Milewski, Paweł; Szmyd, Jakub

doi:10.7163/eu21.2015.29.5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In Romania, the Carpathian Mountains predominate [ 110 ], whereas in Bulgaria the landscape is structured by alternating bands of high and low terrain that stretch from east to west across the country [ 111 ]. The topography gives rise to various climatic zones ranging from alpine and subarctic to humid subtropical [ 110 , 112 ]. The landscape is a mosaic of natural areas such as plains, open woodland, and extensive forests, as well as inhabited and in- and extensively used agricultural areas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Geue

Thomassen

2022

BMC Ecol Evo

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The environment is a strong driver of genetic structure in many natural populations, yet often neglected in population genetic studies. This may be a particular problem in vagile species, where subtle structure cannot be explained by limitations to dispersal. Consequently, these species might falsely be considered quasi-panmictic and hence potentially mismanaged. A species this might apply to, is the buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris), an economically important and widespread pollinator, which is considered to be quasi-panmictic at mainland continental scales. Here we aimed to (i) quantify genetic structure in 21+ populations of the buff-tailed bumble bee, sampled throughout two Eastern European countries, and (ii) analyse the degree to which structure is explained by environmental differences, habitat permeability and geographic distance. Using 12 microsatellite loci, we characterised populations of this species with Fst analyses, complemented by discriminant analysis of principal components and Bayesian clustering approaches. We then applied generalized dissimilarity modelling to simultaneously assess the informativeness of geographic distance, habitat permeability and environmental differences among populations in explaining divergence. Results Genetic structure of the buff-tailed bumble bee quantified by means of Fst was subtle and not detected by Bayesian clustering. Discriminant analysis of principal components suggested insignificant but still noticeable structure that slightly exceeded estimates obtained through Fst analyses. As expected, geographic distance and habitat permeability were not informative in explaining the spatial pattern of genetic divergence. Yet, environmental variables related to temperature, vegetation and topography were highly informative, explaining between 33 and 39% of the genetic variation observed. Conclusions In contrast to previous studies reporting quasi-panmixia in continental populations of this species, we demonstrated the presence of subtle population structure related to environmental heterogeneity. Environmental data proved to be highly useful in unravelling the drivers of genetic structure in this vagile and opportunistic species. We highlight the potential of including these data to obtain a better understanding of population structure and the processes driving it in species considered to be quasi-panmictic.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Geue

Thomassen

2022

BMC Ecol Evo

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This paper thus complements two other works contained in this publication: on the heat stress that may occur during field activities in agriculture in Poland and Bulgaria (Błażejczyk et al 2015), and on the adjustment processes in the human body associated with changes in meteorological conditions as travel between the two countries takes place (Milewski & Szmyd 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Daily amplitude of air temperature in Poland and Bulgaria - a comparative study

Szmyd

Milewski

2015

Eur. XXI

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The work presented here aimed to compare daily amplitudes of air temperature in Poland and Bulgaria, by reference to data from 36 meteorological stations (i.e. 18 from each country) over the period 2000-2012. It proved possible to demonstrate that the average temperature amplitude at the stations in Poland is 2-3°C smaller than that noted for Bulgaria, with the spatial differentiation characterising such averages also being significantly more limited in Poland. Where the annual course for average amplitudes in air temperature in Poland are concerned, there are two maxima and two minima to be noted, as compared with one maximum and one minimum in Bulgaria. The highest values for average daily amplitude in air temperature to be noted in Poland are those typical for May, while highest values in Bulgaria fall in August. The differences between Poland and Bulgaria also manifest themselves in the markedly greater frequency of occurrence of large (>20°C) values for temperature amplitudes to be noted in Bulgaria.

show abstract

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Geue

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe environment is a strong driver of genetic structure in many natural populations, yet often neglected in population genetic studies. This may be a particular problem in vagile species, where subtle structure cannot be explained by limitations to dispersal. These species might falsely be considered panmictic and hence potentially mismanaged. Here we analysed the genetic structure in an economically important and widespread pollinator, the buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris), which is considered to be quasi-panmictic at mainland continental scales. We first quantified population structure in Romania and Bulgaria with spatially implicit Fst and Bayesian clustering analyses. We then incorporated environmental information to infer the influence of the permeability of the habitat matrix between populations (resistance distances) as well as environmental differences among sites in explaining population divergence.ResultsGenetic structure of the buff-tailed bumble bee was subtle and not detected by Bayesian clustering. As expected, geographic distance and habitat permeability were not informative in explaining the spatial pattern of genetic divergence. Yet, environmental variables related to temperature, vegetation and topography were highly informative, explaining between 33 and 39% of the genetic variation observed.ConclusionsWhere in the past spatially implicit approaches had repeatedly failed, incorporating environmental data proved to be highly beneficial in detecting and unravelling the drivers of genetic structure in this vagile and opportunistic species. Indeed, structure followed a pattern of isolation by environment, where the establishment of dispersers is limited by environmental differences among populations, resulting in the disruption of genetic connectivity and the divergence of populations through genetic drift and divergent natural selection. With this work, we highlight the potential of incorporating environmental differences among population locations to complement the more traditional approach of isolation by geographic distance, in order to obtain a holistic understanding of the processes driving structure in natural populations.

show abstract

Biothermal contrasts while travelling in or between Poland and Bulgaria

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Daily amplitude of air temperature in Poland and Bulgaria - a comparative study

Environmental differences explain subtle yet detectable genetic structure in a widespread pollinator

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About