Close kin dyads indicate intergenerational dispersal and barriers

The movement of individuals through continuous space is typically
constrained by dispersal ability and dispersal barriers. A range of
approaches have been developed to investigate these.
Kindisperse is a new approach that infers intergenerational
dispersal (σ) from close kin dyads, and appears particularly useful for
investigating taxa that are difficult to observe individually. This study,
focusing on the mosquito Aedes aegypti, shows how the same close
kin data can also be used for barrier detection. We empirically
demonstrate this new extension of the method using genome-wide sequence
data from 266 Ae. aegypti. First, we use the spatial distribution
of full-sib dyads collected within one generation to infer past movements
of ovipositing female mosquitoes. These dyads indicated the relative
barrier strengths of two roads, and performed favourably against
alternative genetic methods for detecting barriers. The difference in
variance between the sib and first cousin spatial distributions was used
to infer movement over the past two generations, providing estimates of
intergenerational dispersal (σ = 81.5-197.1 m.gen-1/2) and density (ρ =
833-4864 km-2). Dispersal estimates showed general agreement with those
from mark-release-recapture studies. Barriers, σ, ρ, and neighbourhood
size (331-526) can inform forthcoming releases of
dengue-suppressing Wolbachia bacteria into this mosquito
population.