Does commonness confer connectivity?
Adaptive and neutral genomics of a backyard amphibian
The global area of human-modified landscapes is steadily increasing as human populations continue to grow, resulting in disconnected patches of habitat of size and quality. Many species are in decline due to the threat of habitat loss. This is especially true for amphibians as one of the most endangered taxa globally, with habitat loss as one of the primary drivers. However, a few amphibians successfully occupy and even thrive in these heterogeneous, modified landscapes. The spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a frog found throughout the eastern United States in heavily forested to highly paved urban habitats. Yet, it is unclear the genetic processes underlying the persistence of this species across distinct landscapes. Neutral genetic processes can reveal population connectivity and rates of gene flow in relation to landscape characteristics. Adaptive genetic variation is an indication of unique selection pressures from distinct habitats. These patterns and processes are often considered separately although they are inherently linked, which may omit underlying mechanisms behind a species persistence across modified landscapes. We will analyze neutral and adaptive processes of spring peeper populations across the New River Valley of VA in forested, rural, and urban habitats. We are interested in disentangling the relationship between neutral and adaptive genetic variation in this common amphibian to help explain how a species in a usually sensitive taxa is successfully persisting in the age of the anthropocene.
Project Status: We are in the initial stages of this project: Finding and collecting peeper samples in the field, determining appropriate genomic protocols, and developing hypotheses!
The peeper frog finder team!