Multiple, solid evidence support that Austropotamobius italicus is not native to Spain

Peer Reviewe

Prisoners in Their Habitat? Generalist Dispersal by Habitat Specialists: A Case Study in Southern Water Vole (Arvicola sapidus)

Habitat specialists inhabiting scarce and scattered habitat patches pose interesting questions related to dispersal such as how specialized terrestrial mammals do to colonize distant patches crossing hostile matrices. We assess dispersal patterns of the southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus), a habitat specialist whose habitat patches are distributed through less than 2% of the study area (overall 600 km2) and whose populations form a dynamic metapopulational network. We predict that individuals will require a high ability to move through the inhospitable matrix in order to avoid genetic and demographic isolations. Genotypes (N = 142) for 10 microsatellites and sequences of the whole mitochondrial Control Region (N = 47) from seven localities revealed a weak but significant genetic structure partially explained by geographic distance. None of the landscape models had a significant effect on genetic structure over that of the Euclidean distance alone and no evidence for efficient barriers to dispersal was found. Contemporary gene flow was not severely limited for A. sapidus as shown by high migration rates estimates (>10%) between non-neighbouring areas. Sex-biased dispersal tests did not support differences in dispersal rates, as shown by similar average axial parent-offspring distances, in close agreement with capture-mark-recapture estimates. As predicted, our results do not support any preferences of the species for specific landscape attributes on their dispersal pathways. Here, we combine field and molecular data to illustrate how a habitat specialist mammal might disperse like a habitat generalist, acquiring specific long-distance dispersal strategies as an adaptation to patchy, naturally fragmented, heterogeneous and unstable habitats

From individuals to species: landscape genetics and phylogeography os southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus)

Peer reviewe

Microsatellites from "Mating system, breeding success, and pup mortality of a habitat specialist rodent: a field and molecular-based approach" by Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros et al published in Journal of Mammalian Evolution (DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09542-z)

Microsatellite genotypes of Southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus) included in parentage analyses from the article "Mating system, breeding success, and pup mortality of a habitat specialist rodent: a field and molecular-based approach" by Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros, Jacinto Román, Amaia Sánchez-Recuero, María Lucena-Pérez, Miguel Delibes and José Antonio Godoy published in Journal of Mammalian Evolution (DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09542-z). More than one entry per individual is found if target individual is included in different parentage analyses (i.e. in different breeding seasons) (see "season" and "age"

Structure, organization and nucleotide diversity of the mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b of southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus)

The southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus Miller, 1908) is an endangered rodent whose conservation guidelines should preserve the current genetic variability. We analyze the structure and organization of the mitochondrial control region (CR) in A. sapidus. The CR of this species is characterized by a low guanine-cytosine content, the absence of any repetitive motif within the two hypervariable regions, and the presence of the two extended termination-associated sequences and conserved sequence blocks. Nucleotide diversity comparisons between A. sapidus and the European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) revealed differences in the distribution of genetic variation. Furthermore, we provide primers for the amplification of short and highly polymorphic fragments of CR and cytochrome b especially designed for degraded materials. These markers offer molecular tools to assist in the establishment of future conservation and management guidelines, and will also facilitate studies at different spatial and evolutionary scales of this species.Peer reviewe

Microsatellites from "Mating system, breeding success, and pup mortality of a habitat specialist rodent: a field and molecular-based approach" by Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros et al published in Journal of Mammalian Evolution (DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09542-z)

Microsatellite genotypes of Southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus) included in parentage analyses from the article "Mating system, breeding success, and pup mortality of a habitat specialist rodent: a field and molecular-based approach" by Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros, Jacinto Román, Amaia Sánchez-Recuero, María Lucena-Pérez, Miguel Delibes and José Antonio Godoy published in Journal of Mammalian Evolution (DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09542-z). More than one entry per individual is found if target individual is included in different parentage analyses (i.e. in different breeding seasons) (see "season" and "age"

Phylogeography of Southern Water Vole (Arvicola sapidus): evidence for refugia within the Iberian glacial refugium?

The role of Southern European peninsulas as glacial refugia for temperate species has been widely established, but phylogeographic patterns within refugia are being only recently addressed. Here we describe the phylogeographic patterns for Southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus) in its whole distribution across Iberia and France. Control region and cytochrome b sequences were obtained for 228 samples from 130 localities across Iberia and France. Eighty-five haplotypes were found in total yielding a high overall mitochondrial diversity (p = 0.027; H = 0.974). Phylogeographic structure was relatively shallow (3.1% average intraspecific divergence) with few supported clades and 95% and 90% maximum parsimony unconnected networks, but significant, as reflected in increased pairwise nucleotide divergences with distance (r = 0.197, P = 0.03) and significant autocorrelation up to 5500 km. Spatial analysis of molecular variance analysis detected seven geographical groups explaining 43.73% of the total mitochon- drial variation. We detected demographic expansions in three of these groups. A recent colonization of France from Iberia was suggested and estimated around 62 000 years BP by an isolation-with-migration model. Our results suggest the contribution of episodes of isolation in glacial subrefugia in Iberia, but seem to exclude a long-term isolation over successive glacial cycles. Phylogeographic divergence was probably tempered by relatively large population sizes and rapid and extensive mixing among subrefugia during interglacials, that might have eroded the phylogeographic structure accumulated at glacial peaks. Phenotypic differences in A. sapidus do not delineate historically isolated intraspecific divisions and do not warrant subspecific delimitations. Our results do support the existence of subrefugia within Iberia and their role in promoting intraspecific divergences.Peer reviewe

Dating the divergence between Southern and European water voles using molecular coalescent-based methods

Investigating the evolutionary history of the species is critical for understanding the evolution of biodiversity and for its conservation. Towards this goal, molecular approaches are becoming increasingly powerful with the incorporation of recent theoretical and analytical advances. Here, we apply an isolation-with-migration coalescent-based model to control region and cytochrome b mitochondrial sequences to investigate the evolutionary history of European (Arvicola terrestris) and Southern (Arvicola sapidus) water voles throughout Eurasia. We date the time of the split of the common ancestor of European and Southern water voles around the fourth Mindel glacial (c. 252 000 BP), a date similar to that estimated by classical phylogenetic methods (c. 241 000 BP). Although postglacial expansions brought these species into secondary contact in Iberia and France, our results do not contain evidence of subsequent mitochondrial gene flow between descendant groups or current hybridization. We also estimate the effective population sizes of A. sapidus and Arvicola terrestris scherman on c. 199 000 and 52 000 individuals, respectively. This study illustrates the utility of modern coalescent-based genetic tools to investigate recent species and population divergences and sheds some light on the evolution of the genus Arvicola in EurasiaPeer reviewe

Isolation and characterization of novel polymorphic microsatellite markers for the white stork, Ciconia ciconia : applications in individual–based and population genetics

The white stork, Ciconia ciconia, is a model species for studies of bird migration and behavior, but previously published genetic markers are not informative enough to perform individual–based genetic studies. Following discovery using next generation sequencing, 11 polymorphic markers were selected and tested in samples from two study sites. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2–10 with an average of 5.3. The mean observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.519 and 0.565 respectively. PID was adequately sensitive for population– and individual–based genetics studies. There was no significant evidence of allelic drop–out, null alleles, or other errors; one sample site deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium for two loci, but no loci deviated in both samples, suggesting utility of these markers. These markers can be used to answer a range of ecological questions including those related to genetic diversity, degree of natal philopatry, and genetic mating strategies