Genetic population structure within and among little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) maternity colonies within mainland Nova Scotia, Canada

v, 35 leaves : ill., map ; 29 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-35).A common trait among mammals is group living, where individuals come together as a temporary or permanent group. In little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), this is a common behavior of hibernation and at maternity roosts. During the summer, females will! gather at maternity roosts to give birth and raise young. It has been suggested from observational studies that maternity colonies are structured based on female philopatry and male dispersal, and the objective of this project was to test this prediction.Population genetic structure was assessed at maternity roosts in mainland Nova Scotia using two molecular markers. Over three years, samples were collected from 505 adult females at 14 roosts (n=13R92 per roost). DNA was extracted and a section of the mitochondrial control region and 10 microsatellite loci were analyzed. Colonies were found to have significant differentiation of mitochondrial haplotypes and microsatellite allele frequencies, with F[subscript ST] for mitochondrial DNA being tenfold higher than for the nuclear markers. This pattern is consistent with female philopatry and male dispersal, as is often observed in mammals

Population Genetic Structure Within and among Seasonal Site Types in the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the Northern Long-Eared Bat (M. septentrionalis)

Publisher's version/PDFDuring late summer and early autumn, temperate bats migrate from their summering sites to swarming sites, where mating likely occurs. However, the extent to which individuals of a single summering site migrate to the same swarming site, and vice versa, is not known. We examined the migratory connectivity between summering and swarming sites in two temperate, North American, bat species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). Using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers, we examined population structuring within and among summering and swarming sites. Both species exhibited moderate degrees of mitochondrial DNA differentiation (little brown bat: F[subscript ST(SWARMING)] = 0.093, F[subscript ST(SWARMING)] = 0.052; northern long-eared bat: F[subscript ST(SWARMING)] = 0.117, F[subscript ST(SWARMING)] = 0.043) and little microsatellite DNA differentiation among summering and among swarming sites. Haplotype diversity was significantly higher at swarming sites than summering sites, supporting the idea that swarming sites are comprised of individuals from various summering sites. Further, pairwise analyses suggest that swarming sites are not necessarily comprised of only individuals from the most proximal summering colonies.Funding for this work was provided by The Canadian Wildlife Federation, Nova Scotia Power, Eon Wind Electric, Shear Wind Inc., The New Brunswick Museum, New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund, Bat Conservation International, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Discovery Grant 283217-2010; CRDG 418936-11) Canadian Wildlife Federation: http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/. Nova Scotia Power: https://www.nspower.ca/en/home/default.aspx. Eon Wind Electric: http://www.eonwind.com. Shear Wind Inc.: http://www.shearwind.com. The New Brunswick Museum: http://www.nbm-mnb.ca. New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund: http://www.nbwtf.ca/eindex.asp. Bat Conservation International: http://www.batcon.org. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Discovery Grant 283217-2010; CRDG 418936-11): http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp. Note: each industrial funder has agreed to the publishing of this paper

Data from: Population genetic structure within and among seasonal site types in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the northern long-eared bat (M. septentrionalis)

During late summer and early autumn, temperate bats migrate from their summering sites to swarming sites, where mating likely occurs. However, the extent to which individuals of a single summering site migrate to the same swarming site, and vice versa, is not known. We examined the migratory connectivity between summering and swarming sites in two temperate, North American, bat species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). Using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers, we examined population structuring within and among summering and swarming sites. Both species exhibited moderate degrees of mitochondrial DNA differentiation (little brown bat: FST(SWARMING) = 0.093, FST(SWARMING) = 0.052; northern long-eared bat: FST(SWARMING) = 0.117, FST(SWARMING) = 0.043) and little microsatellite DNA differentiation among summering and among swarming sites. Haplotype diversity was significantly higher at swarming sites than summering sites, supporting the idea that swarming sites are comprised of individuals from various summering sites. Further, pairwise analyses suggest that swarming sites are not necessarily comprised of only individuals from the most proximal summering colonies

MYSE_microsatellites_Genepop_infile

This file contains the genotypes (at 9 loci) of M. septentrionalis bats at 15 sites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada

MYLU_microsatellites_Genepop_infile.txt

This file contains the genotypes (at 9 loci) of M. lucifugus bats at 29 sites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada

Probability graphs of <i>K</i> in little brown bat (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>).

<p>Plot of mean probability of <i>ΔK</i> as calculated by Evanno et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0126309#pone.0126309.ref069" target="_blank">69</a>] to detect greatest likelihood of <i>K</i>.</p

AMOVA results for the partitioning of mtDNA of little brown bat (<i>M</i>. <i>lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>) variation across sample site types in eastern Canada and nDNA global F_ST across sample site types, as well as all sites.

<p>AMOVA results for the partitioning of mtDNA of little brown bat (<i>M</i>. <i>lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>) variation across sample site types in eastern Canada and nDNA global F_ST across sample site types, as well as all sites.</p

Little brown bat (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>) haplotype (<i>h</i>) and nucleotide diversity (π).

<p>Shown are the results for both summering and swarming sites.</p

Little brown bat (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>) inference of population structure.

<p>Little brown bat and northern long-eared bat scatterplots of genetically distinct clusters identified through DAPC within adegenet. Also shown are the corresponding BIC plots for various numbers of clusters (above right) and the DA eigenvalues for the displayed scatterplots (below right).</p

Map of the little brown bat (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) and northern long-eared bat (<i>M</i>. <i>septentrionalis</i>) swarming (circles) and summering (squares) sites.

<p>Little brown bat summering sites are represented by black squares and white squares represent northern long-eared summering sites. Both species were sampled from all swarming sites excluding Vault Cave (Site 9). Tissue samples were collected between 1999–2012 across Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada.</p