Demographic, physiological, and genetic factors linked to poleward range expansion along the shoreline of China

Distribution range expansion is one of the most significant consequences of climate change in the Anthropocene. During range expansion, the former biogeographic barrier can be broken and then a new biogeographic pattern might appear. A comprehensive study, including demographic pattern, physiological performance and genetic features, is crucial for understanding how the expanding population occupies and survives in the new habitat, within which it formerly did not occur. In the present study, we investigated the demographic, physiological, and genetic features of the intertidal gastropod Nerita yoldii, which has extended its northern limit by ~200 km into areas that are warming up faster than the historical distribution over the former biogeographic break of the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) during recent decades. The neutral SNPs data showed that the new marginal populations formed a distinct cluster established by a few founders. Demographic modeling analysis revealed that the new margi...