Data from: Reduced genetic diversity and increased dispersal in Guigna (Leopardus guigna) in Chilean fragmented landscapes

Landscape fragmentation is often a major cause of species extinction as it can affect a wide variety of ecological processes. The impact of fragmentation varies among species depending on many factors, including their life-history traits and dispersal abilities. Felids are one of the groups most threatened by fragmented landscapes because of their large home ranges, territorial behavior, and low population densities. Here, we model the impacts of habitat fragmentation on patterns of genetic diversity in the guigna (Leopardus guigna), a small felid that is closely associated with the heavily human-impacted temperate rainforests of southern South America. We assessed genetic variation in 1798 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA sequences, 15 microsatellite loci, and 2 sex chromosome genes and estimated genetic diversity, kinship, inbreeding, and dispersal in 38 individuals from landscapes with differing degrees of fragmentation on Chiloé Island in southern Chile. Increased fragmentation was associated with reduced genetic diversity, but not with increased kinship or inbreeding. However, in fragmented landscapes, there was a weaker negative correlation between pairwise kinship and geographic distance, suggesting increased dispersal distances. These results highlight the importance of biological corridors to maximize connectivity in fragmented landscapes and contribute to our understanding of the broader genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation, especially for forest-specialist carnivores.景观破碎化（Landscape fragmentation）常为物种灭绝的主要诱因之一，因其可干扰诸多生态过程。破碎化对不同物种的影响存在差异，这取决于诸多因素，包括物种的生活史特征与扩散能力。猫科动物（Felids）是受景观破碎化威胁最严重的类群之一，原因在于它们拥有较大的家域范围、领地行为以及较低的种群密度。本研究针对南美林猫（Leopardus guigna）——一种与南美南部受人类活动强烈干扰的温带雨林紧密关联的小型猫科动物——构建了栖息地破碎化对其遗传多样性格局的影响模型。我们对智利南部奇洛埃岛上38个采自不同破碎化程度景观的个体展开分析：对1798个碱基对的线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA）序列、15个微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）以及2个性染色体基因（sex chromosome genes）的遗传变异进行检测，并估算了其遗传多样性、亲缘关系、近交程度与扩散能力。景观破碎化程度的提升与遗传多样性的降低相关，但与亲缘关系或近交程度的升高并无关联。然而在破碎化景观中，个体间的成对亲缘关系与地理距离之间的负相关关系较弱，这表明扩散距离有所增加。本研究结果凸显了生物走廊（biological corridors）在最大化破碎化景观连通性方面的重要意义，同时有助于我们进一步理解栖息地破碎化所带来的更广泛的遗传效应，尤其是对森林特化食肉动物而言。