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<p>Wood Turtle (<i>Glyptemys insculpta</i>) populations are declining in many portions of the species’ native range due to multiple factors that might influence functional connectivity and population genetic structure. We used 13 microsatellite markers to examine patterns of genetic structure in the Wood Turtle across its native range in Eastern and Midwestern North America. For <i>n</i> = 45 collections with 15 or more individuals (total <i>N</i> = 1,258), multiple clustering approaches revealed two major genetic groups corresponding to the midwestern and eastern collections. Interestingly, a sample from lower Michigan clustered with the Eastern group while a sample from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan clustered with the Midwestern group. Evidence of gene flow between these two major groups arose from the most proximate sites near the edges of each group. These results suggest that Lake Superior and Lake Michigan were historically substantial (but perhaps not complete) barriers to gene flow. Our results suggest that Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) status is warranted for Midwestern and Eastern Wood Turtles in North America. Within the eastern group, we observed a strong pattern of clinal allele frequency variation, with evidence of incipient genetic differentiation between multiple collections from the Potomac and Monongahela Rivers from collections in river basins further to the north. Estimation of full-sibling families indicated a range of distance between close family members of 16.8–301&#xa0;km, suggesting the possibility of extremely long-distance (though rare) dispersal. Mean expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.553 to 0.722 and allelic richness ranged from 4.1 to 6.8. For a species with such a long generation interval (approximately 40 years (yrs)), isolated populations on the low end of this range of both measures of genetic variation might suffer from negative fitness effects of inbreeding and warrant further monitoring efforts. Our results support the management of this species at, or within, the Hydrologic Unit Code-4 (HUC4) subregion scale.</p>

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Rangewide population genetic analysis of the Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月22日

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  • Andrew R. Whiteley,
  • Dana Weigel-Sheedy,
  • Thomas S.B. Akre,
  • Donald J. Brown,
  • Deahn M. Donner,
  • Charlie Eichelberger,
  • Lori Erb,
  • Katharine D. Gipe,
  • Ellery Lassiter,
  • Michael N. Marchand,
  • Tricia Markle,
  • Donald F. McAlpine,
  • Jessica Meck,
  • Joshua Megyesy,
  • Alexander Robillard,
  • H. Patrick Roberts,
  • Ryan Roseen,
  • Sara M. Spaid,
  • Jeff Tamplin,
  • Ed Thompson,
  • Derek T. Yorks,
  • Lisabeth L. Willey,
  • Michael T. Jones

摘要

Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) populations are declining in many portions of the species’ native range due to multiple factors that might influence functional connectivity and population genetic structure. We used 13 microsatellite markers to examine patterns of genetic structure in the Wood Turtle across its native range in Eastern and Midwestern North America. For n = 45 collections with 15 or more individuals (total N = 1,258), multiple clustering approaches revealed two major genetic groups corresponding to the midwestern and eastern collections. Interestingly, a sample from lower Michigan clustered with the Eastern group while a sample from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan clustered with the Midwestern group. Evidence of gene flow between these two major groups arose from the most proximate sites near the edges of each group. These results suggest that Lake Superior and Lake Michigan were historically substantial (but perhaps not complete) barriers to gene flow. Our results suggest that Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) status is warranted for Midwestern and Eastern Wood Turtles in North America. Within the eastern group, we observed a strong pattern of clinal allele frequency variation, with evidence of incipient genetic differentiation between multiple collections from the Potomac and Monongahela Rivers from collections in river basins further to the north. Estimation of full-sibling families indicated a range of distance between close family members of 16.8–301 km, suggesting the possibility of extremely long-distance (though rare) dispersal. Mean expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.553 to 0.722 and allelic richness ranged from 4.1 to 6.8. For a species with such a long generation interval (approximately 40 years (yrs)), isolated populations on the low end of this range of both measures of genetic variation might suffer from negative fitness effects of inbreeding and warrant further monitoring efforts. Our results support the management of this species at, or within, the Hydrologic Unit Code-4 (HUC4) subregion scale.