Using biogeographical history to inform conservation: the case of Preble's meadow jumping mouse

Abstract

The last Pleistocene deglaciation shaped temperate and boreal communities in North America. Rapid northward expansion into high latitudes created distinctive spatial genetic patterns within species that include closely related groups of populations that are now widely spread across latitudes, while longitudinally adjacent populations, especially those near the southern periphery, often are distinctive due to long-term disjunction. Across a spatial expanse that includes both recently colonized and long-occupied regions, we analysed molecular variation in zapodid rodents to explore how past climate shifts influenced diversification in this group. By combining molecular analyses with species distribution modelling and tests of ecological interchangeability, we show that the lineage including the Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei), a US federally listed taxon of conservation concern, is not restricted to the southern Rocky Mountains. Rather, populations along the Front Range are part of a single lineage that is ecologically indistinct and extends to the far north. Of the 21 lineages identified, this Northern lineage has the largest geographical range and low measures of intralineage genetic differentiation, consistent with recent northward expansion. Comprehensive sampling combined with coalescent-based analyses and niche modelling leads to a radically different view of geographical structure within jumping mice and indicates the need to re-evaluate their taxonomy and management. This analysis highlights a premise in conservation biology that biogeographical history should play a central role in establishing conservation priorities.

Phylogeographic structure in long‐tailed voles (Rodentia: Arvicolinae) belies the complex Pleistocene history of isolation, divergence, and recolonization of Northwest North America's fauna

“…Because populations of taxa in the higher latitude deglaciated regions are hypothesized to be relatively homogenous due to recent northward expansion while southern source populations should retain signatures of long‐term persistence and deeper divergence (Hewitt ; Lessa et al. ; Malaney and Cook ), we expected to find similar genetic signatures for M. longicaudus . Instead, we uncovered substantial structure in coastal Alaska, with admixture in some mainland populations that reflected complex histories of origin.…”

Translocated to the fringe: genetic and niche variation in bighorn sheep of the Great Basin and northern Mojave deserts

“…Repatriation programmes have facilitated the recovery of bighorn sheep (Krausman, ) following population losses (Buechner, ). From a conservation biology perspective, management action should seek to maintain ecological and evolutionary processes (Moritz, ; Crandall et al ., ; Moritz & Potter, ) and consider biogeographic history (Malaney & Cook, ). Much of the genetic and niche‐based differences we observe are presumably the result of a dynamic history following divergence from O. dalli (Rezaei et al ., ) and diversification that occurred in geographically isolated populations (Loehr et al ., ).…”

The importance of an evolutionary perspective in conservation policy planning

“…Therefore, we can incorporate both evolutionary and ecological processes into efforts to sustain biodiversity. In this issue of M olecular E cology, Malaney & Cook () highlight the critical value of an evolutionary biogeographical approach, combining multilocus phylogeography with climatic niche modelling to infer phylogenetically weighted conservation priorities for evolutionary lineages of jumping mice across N orth A merica. Remarkably, they find that the P reble's meadow jumping mouse ( Z apus hudsonius preblei ), long debated as a threatened taxon, in fact represents the southern terminus of a relatively uniform lineage that expanded well into A laska during the H olocene.…”

“…Jumping mouse from the southwestern lineage (Malaney & Cook , Z apus hudsonius luteus ) from the A merica S outhwest ( N ew M exico and A rizona) proposed endangered under USFWS . Photograph kindly provided by G reg W right.…”

“…To assess relative conservation priorities, Malaney & Cook () employed the EDGE protocol (Isaac et al . ), which integrates phylogenetic distinctiveness with population trend data as more commonly applied for IUCN red listing.…”