Determinants of genetic variation across eco-evolutionary scales in pinnipeds.

Peart, Claire R.; Tusso, Sergio; Pophaly, Saurabh D.; Botero-Castro, Fidel; Wu, Chi-Chih; Aurioles-Gamboa, David; Baird, Amy B.; Bickham, John W.; Forcada, Jaume ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-0150; Galimberti, Filippo; Gemmell, Neil J.; Hoffman, Joseph I.; Kovacs, Kit M.; Kunnasranta, Mervi; Lydersen, Christian; Nyman, Tommi; de Oliveira, Larissa Rosa; Orr, Anthony J.; Sanvito, Simona; Valtonen, Mia; Shafer, Aaron B. A.; Wolf, Jochen B. W.. 2020 Determinants of genetic variation across eco-evolutionary scales in pinnipeds. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4. 1095-1104. 10.1038/s41559-020-1215-5

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Official URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1215-5

Abstract/Summary

The effective size of a population (Ne), which determines its level of neutral variability, is a key evolutionary parameter. Ne can substantially depart from census sizes of present-day breeding populations (NC) as a result of past demographic changes, variation in life-history traits and selection at linked sites. Using genome-wide data we estimated the long-term coalescent Ne for 17 pinniped species represented by 36 population samples (total n = 458 individuals). Ne estimates ranged from 8,936 to 91,178, were highly consistent within (sub)species and showed a strong positive correlation with NC (R2adj = 0.59; P = 0.0002). Ne/NC ratios were low (mean, 0.31; median, 0.13) and co-varied strongly with demographic history and, to a lesser degree, with species’ ecological and life-history variables such as breeding habitat. Residual variation in Ne/NC, after controlling for past demographic fluctuations, contained information about recent population size changes during the Anthropocene. Specifically, species of conservation concern typically had positive residuals indicative of a smaller contemporary NC than would be expected from their long-term Ne. This study highlights the value of comparative population genomic analyses for gauging the evolutionary processes governing genetic variation in natural populations, and provides a framework for identifying populations deserving closer conservation attention.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41559-020-1215-5
Date made live:	15 Jun 2020 09:01 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527966

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/s41559-020-1215-5

Date made live:

15 Jun 2020 09:01 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527966