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

Laura N L Johnson,Hugh G Broders,Timothy R Frasier,Krista Arseneault,Lynne E Burns,Brenna A Mcleod,Justin G Boyles

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126309

Laura N L Johnson, Hugh G Broders + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126309

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Abstract

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.

Highlights

Migration allows species inhabiting seasonal environments to exploit ephemeral resources [1,2]
Despite the behavioural differences between the little brown bat and northern long-eared bat, our study found great similarity in the population genetic structuring across seasonal sites for both species
The genetic differentiation between summering sites is likely explained by philopatry

Summary

Introduction

Migration allows species inhabiting seasonal environments (which vary in temporal and spatial resource variability) to exploit ephemeral resources [1,2]. Migration is a taxonomically widespread phenomenon, the extent of connectivity between seasonal sites remains unknown for most species. Many species differ in the extent to which individuals of a single summering site migrate to the same wintering site, and vice versa, and such patterns may vary with age and sex [3]. Most individuals occupy a single site during the breeding season and migrate to separate foraging sites (e.g., gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus) [4], whereas in other. Population Structure of Bats at Seasonal Sites

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