Genetics of urban colonization: neutral and adaptive variation in coyotes (Canis latrans) inhabiting the New York metropolitan area

Theory predicts that range expansion results in genetic diversity loss in colonizing populations. Rapid reduction of population size exacerbates negative effects of genetic drift, while sustained isolation decreases neutral variation. Amid this demographic change, natural selection can act to maintain functional diversity. Thus, characterizing neutral and functional variation is critical for disentangling the evolutionary forces that shape genetic variation in newly established populations. Coyotes (Canis latrans) provide an ideal study system for examining the genetic effects of urban colonization. Capable of thriving in environments ranging from natural to highly urbanized, this mobile carnivore recently established a breeding population in New York City (NYC), one of the most densely populated areas in the United States. In the present study, we characterized neutral and functionally linked genetic diversity on a regional scale, traversing NYC and its surrounding counties in the New ...