Distance matrices used to investigate loggerhead sea turtle genetic structure.

The genetic structure of sea turtles nesting in the southeastern USA has been characterized extensively. Here we provide three distance matrices that we used to further investigate the population structure of loggerhead turtles this region. Because sea turtles use geomagnetic navigation to return to nest on their natal beaches, we might expect a relationship between the genetic differentiation between nesting beaches and the unique magnetic signatures that mark them. To investigate this idea we used the three distance matrices included here as well as previously reported metrics of genetic differentiation. Magnetic distance represents the difference in the magnetic signatures that have historically marked each of 20 nesting beaches across the southeastern USA. Geographic distance represents the shortest oversea distance between each possible combination of the 20 nesting beaches. Environmental distance represents the difference in the environmental characteristics at each of the 20 nesting beaches.

美国东南部筑巢海龟的遗传结构已得到广泛研究与表征。本研究提供三种距离矩阵，用于进一步探究该区域红海龟（loggerhead turtles）的种群结构。鉴于海龟依托地磁导航（geomagnetic navigation）返回出生地海滩筑巢，我们推测各筑巢海滩间的遗传分化与其独特的地磁标识之间可能存在关联。为验证这一假说，本研究采用本文提供的三种距离矩阵，结合已发表的遗传分化度量指标开展分析。其中，地磁距离指美国东南部20处筑巢海滩各自的历史地磁标识之间的差异；地理距离指20处筑巢海滩任意两两组合间的最短跨海距离；环境距离指20处筑巢海滩各自的环境特征之间的差异。