Climatic influences on the genetic structure and distribution of the common vole and field vole in Europe

Joanna Stojak,Jan M Wójcik,Marcin Górny,Tomasz Borowik,Allan D Mcdevitt

doi:10.1007/s13364-018-0395-8

Joanna Stojak, Jan M Wójcik + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-018-0395-8

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of climate on the distribution and present-day genetic structure of the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis). In this study, we used previously published data on the genetic structure (using microsatellite DNA) of the common and field vole in Central Europe and a set of climatic variables to conduct binomial generalized linear and environmental niche modeling. In terms of present-day genetic structure, climate is an important factor shaping the patterns of distribution of the identified genetic groups, with the average minimum temperature in January being a significant factor for both species. For the field vole, average annual precipitation was an important factor also and consistent with the species’ preference for wet habitats. Therefore, this study has provided indirect evidence that (1) climate can shape the genetic structure and distribution of species at both broad and local scales and (2) using genetic data and species distribution modeling can be an effective approach to establish locations of putative glacial refugia for different species in Europe and to explore their past evolutionary history.

Highlights

Climate is an important factor influencing species distribution patterns worldwide (Swenson 2006; Moritz et al 2009)
Given the distribution of genetic groups identified using microsatellite markers observed for the common vole and field vole in Central Europe (Stojak et al 2016a, b), the purpose of this study was to examine if climatic conditions could have had an influence on the present-day genetic structure of both species
Among the different combinations of the considered submodels of the generalized linear modeling (GLM) aimed at assessing the effect of the climatic factors on the assignment to one of the genetic groups, the model with average minimum temperature in January was selected as the single best model (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Climate is an important factor influencing species distribution patterns worldwide (Swenson 2006; Moritz et al 2009). We focused on two closely related rodent species, the common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis). Morphologically similar, they prefer different habitats, and their evolutionary history differs from each other. They prefer different habitats, and their evolutionary history differs from each other Both species have been well-studied in Europe with different molecular markers—mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence

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