Abstract
The relationship between genetic variation and phenotypic traits is fundamental to the study and management of natural populations. Such relationships often are investigated by assessing correlations between phenotypic traits and heterozygosity or genetic differentiation. Using an extensive data set compiled from free-ranging mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), we combined genetic and ecological data to (i) examine correlations between genetic differentiation and migration timing, (ii) screen for mitochondrial haplotypes associated with migration timing, and (iii) test whether nuclear heterozygosity was associated with condition. Migration was related to genetic differentiation (more closely related individuals migrated closer in time) and mitochondrial haplogroup. Body fat was related to heterozygosity at two nuclear loci (with antagonistic patterns), one of which is situated near a known fat metabolism gene in mammals. Despite being focused on a widespread panmictic species, these findings revealed a link between genetic variation and important phenotypes at a fine scale. We hypothesize that these correlations are either the result of mixing refugial lineages or differential mitochondrial haplotypes influencing energetics. The maintenance of phenotypic diversity will be critical to enable the potential tracking of changing climatic conditions, and these correlates highlight the need to consider evolutionary mechanisms in management, even in widely distributed panmictic species.
Highlights
Understanding variation in phenotypic traits related to fitness in wild populations is fundamental to the study of evolution and ecology
We have shown fine-scale relationships between genetic variation and phenotypic traits in mule deer that have not been found in previous work on this species
Our study identified fine-scale genetic correlates to both migration timing and body fat that are likely overlooked in this species
Summary
Understanding variation in phenotypic traits related to fitness in wild populations is fundamental to the study of evolution and ecology Such traits can be related to genetic variation at relatively fine spatial scales, and knowledge of these relationships can provide insight into important ecoevolutionary processes such as inbreeding depression, local adaptation, population structure, and speciation (Kupper et al 2010; Olano-Marin et al 2011; Shafer and Wolf 2013; Shafer et al 2014). Correlations can occur with a multilocus heterozygosity (MLH) metric, indicating a general genomewide effect of inbreeding, or heterozygosity at a single locus (single-locus heterozygosity; SLH), indicating local (either direct or indirect) effects due to linkage to a gene that affects fitness (Hansson et al 2004) For the latter, individual neutral markers are hypothesized to show associative
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