为了保护野生物种,了解景观变化和土地管理如何影响基因流动和运动是很重要的。景观遗传分析提供了一种强大的方法来推断各种景观因素对基因流的影响,从而为保护行动提供信息。波斯松鼠是西亚林地和橡树林中的重要物种,它最近经历了栖息地的丧失和碎片化。我们对伊朗北部扎格罗斯山脉(库尔德斯坦省,Kermanshah,和Ilam),重点评估距离隔离(IBD)和电阻隔离(IBR),使用16个微卫星标记。地理距离和景观特征的作用,包括道路,河流,发达地区,农业和农业,森林,湖泊,人工林,牧场,灌木丛,和不同树冠覆盖的岩石区域,使用基于个体的方法和阻力面建模对遗传结构上的沼泽边缘进行了量化。我们发现了IBD的重要模式,但对森林覆盖率对遗传结构和基因流的影响仅有较弱的支持。地理距离似乎是限制波斯松鼠在该地区扩散的重要因素。当前研究的结果为Zagros橡树森林中的波斯松鼠提供了正在进行的保护计划。
For the conservation of wild species, it is important to understand how landscape change and land management can affect gene flow and movement. Landscape genetic analyses provide a powerful approach to infer effects of various landscape factors on gene flow, thereby informing conservation actions. The Persian squirrel is a keystone species in the woodlands and oak forests of Western Asia, where it has experienced recent habitat loss and fragmentation. We conducted landscape genetic analyses of individuals sampled in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran (provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Ilam), focusing on the evaluation of isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by resistance (IBR), using 16 microsatellite markers. The roles of geographical distance and landscape features including roads, rivers, developed areas, farming and agriculture, forests, lakes, plantation forests, rangelands, shrublands, and rocky areas of varying canopy cover, and swamp margins on genetic structure were quantified using individual-based approaches and resistance surface modeling. We found a significant pattern of IBD but only weak support for an effect of forest cover on genetic structure and gene flow. It seems that geographical distance is an important factor limiting the dispersal of the Persian squirrel in this region. The results of the current study inform ongoing conservation programs for the Persian squirrel in the Zagros oak forest.