Spatially structured statistical network models for landscape genetics

A basic understanding of how the landscape impedes, or creates resistance to, the dispersal of organisms and hence gene flow is paramount for successful conservation science and management. Spatially structured ecological networks are often used to represent spatial landscape-genetic relationships, where nodes represent individuals or populations and resistance to movement is represented using non-binary edge weights. Weights are typically assigned or estimated by the user, rather than observed, and validating such weights is challenging. We provide a synthesis of current methods used to estimate edge weights and an overview of common model types, stressing the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and their ability to model landscape-genetic data. We further explore a set of spatial-statistical methods that provide ecologists with alternative approaches for modeling spatially explicit processes that may affect genetic structure. This includes an overview of spatial autoregressi...