Functional connectivity and home range inferred at a microgeographic landscape genetics scale in a desert-dwelling rodent

Gene flow in animals is limited or facilitated by different features within the landscape matrix they inhabit. The landscape representation in landscape genetics (LG) is traditionally modeled as resistance surfaces (RS), where novel optimization approaches are needed for assigning resistance values that adequately avoid subjectivity. Also, desert ecosystems and mammals are scarcely represented in LG studies We addressed these issues by evaluating, at a microgeographic scale, the effect of landscape features on functional connectivity of the desert-dwelling Dipodomys merriami. We characterized genetic diversity and structure with microsatellites loci, estimated home ranges and movement of individuals using telemetry –one of the first with rodents–, generated a set of individual and composite environmental surfaces based on hypotheses of variables influencing movement, and assessed how these variables relate to individual-based gene flow. Genetic diversity and structure results evidenced ..., D. merriami genotypesMicrosatellites loci genotypes for the entire database (76 individuals)Flores-Manzanero_et_Dme-genotypes (76).csvFlores-Manzanero_et_DmeNR-genotypes(59)Microsatellites loci genotypes for the non-related individuals (59 ),