Data from: Isolated in an ocean of grass: low levels of gene flow between termite subpopulations

Habitat fragmentation is one of the most important causes of biodiversity loss, but many species are distributed in naturally patchy habitats. Such species are often organized in highly dynamic metapopulations or in patchy populations with high gene flow between subpopulations. Yet, there are also species that exist in stable patchy habitats with small subpopulations and presumably low dispersal rates. Here, we present population genetic data for the ‘magnetic’ termite Amitermes meridionalis, which show that short distances between subpopulations do not hinder exceptionally strong genetic differentiation (FST: 0.339; RST: 0.636). Despite the strong genetic differentiation between subpopulations, we did not find evidence for genetic impoverishment. We propose that loss of genetic diversity might be counteracted by a long colony life with low colony turnover. Indeed, we found evidence for the inheritance of colonies by so-called ‘replacement reproductives’. Inhabiting a mound for several generations might result in loss of gene diversity within a colony but maintenance of gene diversity at the subpopulation level.生境破碎化是生物多样性丧失的核心诱因之一，但诸多物种自然分布于斑块状生境中。这类物种通常以高度动态的集合种群（metapopulation）结构存在，或是以亚种群间基因交流频繁的斑块种群形式分布。然而也有部分物种栖息于稳定的斑块状生境中，其亚种群规模较小且扩散速率大概率偏低。本研究针对“磁性”白蚁（Amitermes meridionalis）提供种群遗传学数据，结果显示亚种群间的短空间距离并未阻碍极强的遗传分化（FST: 0.339; RST: 0.636）。尽管亚种群间存在极强的遗传分化，但本研究未发现遗传贫瘠化的相关证据。我们推测，低巢群更替率伴随的长巢群寿命，或许可以抵消遗传多样性的丧失。事实上，本研究发现了所谓“补充繁殖体”介导的巢群继承现象的相关证据。多个世代栖息于同一蚁冢中，可能会导致单个巢群内的基因多样性丢失，但却能维持亚种群水平的基因多样性。