Hopken Matthew W, Mankowski Clara P, Thurber Christine, Piaggio Antoinette J, Nelson Kathleen M, Chipman Richard B, Abdo Zaid, Buchanan Tore, Massé Ariane, Gilbert Amy T
US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center Fort Collins Colorado USA.
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado USA.
Evol Appl. 2025 May 12;18(5):e70105. doi: 10.1111/eva.70105. eCollection 2025 May.
Wide-ranging, generalist species provide both interesting and challenging opportunities for research questions focused on population structure. Their continuous distributions and ability to occupy diverse habitat types can obscure genetic signals of ancestry and geographic clustering. However, spatially informed population genetic approaches are notable for high-resolution identification of geographic clusters that often elude more classical clustering models. The northern raccoon () is a broadly distributed species in North America, with populations in diverse habitats ranging from dense urban to rural landscapes. Wildlife management agencies have an interest in understanding raccoon ecology, given their propensity for human-wildlife conflicts and zoonotic diseases. We combined samples from an extensive raccoon tissue repository with a RADcapture panel of 1000 microhaplotype loci to conduct spatial genetic analyses of raccoon populations in eastern North America. Our objective was to estimate patterns of genetic diversity on the landscape that may inform raccoon rabies management. Bayesian clustering analyses delineated multiple ancestry clusters that encompassed large areas across 22 US states and 2 Canadian provinces. We discovered a potential phylogeographic split between central and southern samples from those in the northeast region, which correlates with post-Pleistocene recolonization detected in a multitude of species from the region. A finer scale structure was identified using spatially explicit analyses and demonstrated variable dispersal/gene flow patterns within specific regions. The Appalachian Mountain region restricted local connectivity among raccoons, while raccoon populations in central New York, the Ohio River Valley, southern Québec, and southern Alabama demonstrated high genetic connectivity. The results from this study highlight how raccoon ecology and historical biogeography can help contextualize contrasting hypotheses about the influence of landscape on raccoon movement patterns, which can inform management of zoonotic disease risks at regional scales.
分布广泛的泛化种为聚焦种群结构的研究问题提供了既有趣又具挑战性的机会。它们连续的分布范围以及占据多种栖息地类型的能力，可能会掩盖祖先的遗传信号和地理聚类。然而，空间信息种群遗传学方法在高分辨率识别地理聚类方面表现出色，而这些聚类往往是更经典的聚类模型所难以发现的。北美浣熊是北美分布广泛的物种，其种群分布在从密集城市到乡村景观等多样的栖息地中。鉴于浣熊容易引发人兽冲突和人畜共患病，野生动物管理机构对了解浣熊生态学很感兴趣。我们将来自一个广泛的浣熊组织库的样本与一个包含1000个微单倍型位点的RAD捕获面板相结合，对北美东部的浣熊种群进行空间遗传分析。我们的目标是估计景观上的遗传多样性模式，这可能为浣熊狂犬病管理提供信息。贝叶斯聚类分析划定了多个祖先聚类，这些聚类涵盖了美国22个州和加拿大2个省的大片区域。我们发现东北地区中部和南部样本与东北部样本之间存在潜在的系统发育地理分歧，这与该地区众多物种中检测到的更新世后重新定殖相关。使用空间明确分析确定了一个更精细尺度的结构，并展示了特定区域内可变的扩散/基因流动模式。阿巴拉契亚山脉地区限制了浣熊之间的局部连通性，而纽约中部、俄亥俄河谷、魁北克南部和阿拉巴马南部的浣熊种群表现出高遗传连通性。这项研究的结果突出了浣熊生态学和历史生物地理学如何有助于将关于景观对浣熊移动模式影响的不同假设置于背景中，这可为区域尺度上的人畜共患病风险管理提供信息。
