The impact of long-term artificial removal experiment and natural local extinctions on the genetics of an alpine butterfly
Abstract
In the current age of widespread anthropogenic effects across the globe, organisms are vulnerable to habitat fragmentation and localized decline in population more than ever before. Therefore, insight into metapopulation-level dynamics and the genetic basis of inter-patch dispersal is key to understanding the regional persistence of a species in the face of potential localized extinction or population bottleneck. In this study I used samples from a previously conducted localized long-term population removal experiment to investigate the effects of an extended population reductions on the genetic structure of a local population, and to explore the genetic basis of dispersal and recolonization using both the removal experiment and past natural local extinctions within a well-studied metapopulation system of an alpine butterfly species (Parnassius smintheus). Overall, while my results did not find evidence for the genetic basis of dispersal in this species within the markers assayed, genetic metrics across the experiment empirically demonstrated this system’s resilience against localized population reductions, as both genetic diversity and influx of dispersers into the focal patches were maintained throughout the experiment despite the yearly removals of the local populations for eight consecutive years.