Data from: Identification of landscape features influencing gene flow: how useful are habitat selection models?

Understanding how dispersal patterns are influenced by landscape heterogeneity is critical for modelling species connectivity. Resource selection function (RSF) models are increasingly used in landscape genetics approaches. However, because the ecological factors that drive habitat selection may be different from those influencing dispersal and gene flow, it is important to consider their explicit assumptions. We calculated pairwise genetic distances among 301 Alaskan Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) using an intensive sampling effort and 15 microsatellite loci. We used multiple regression of distance matrices to assess the correlation of pairwise genetic distance and landscape resistance derived from an RSF, and combinations of landscape features hypothesized to influence dispersal. Dall’s sheep gene flow was positively correlated with steep slopes, moderate peak normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI), and open land cover. Whereas RSF covariates were significant in predicting genetic distance, the RSF model itself was not significantly correlated with Dall’s sheep gene flow, suggesting that certain habitat features important seasonally (rugged terrain, mid-range elevation) were not influential to breeding dispersal. This work underscores that consideration of both habitat selection and landscape genetics models in developing conservation strategies will ensure resources are managed to meet both the immediate survival needs of a species and allow for long-term genetic connectivity.

解析景观异质性对扩散模式的调控机制，对于物种连通性建模至关重要。资源选择函数（Resource Selection Function, RSF）模型正日益广泛应用于景观遗传学研究框架中。然而，驱动栖息地选择的生态因子与影响扩散及基因流的生态因子往往存在差异，因此明确考量两类模型的显性假设至关重要。本研究通过密集采样策略，利用15个微卫星位点，对301只阿拉斯加多尔大角羊（Ovis dalli dalli）的成对遗传距离进行了计算。本研究采用距离矩阵多元回归分析法，评估了成对遗传距离与基于资源选择函数构建的景观阻力值，以及假说中可影响扩散的各类景观特征组合之间的相关性。结果显示，多尔大角羊的基因流与陡坡、中等峰值归一化差分植被指数（Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI）以及开阔土地覆被类型呈正相关。尽管资源选择函数的协变量对遗传距离预测具有显著效果，但资源选择函数模型本身与多尔大角羊的基因流并无显著相关性，这表明某些具有季节重要性的栖息地特征（如崎岖地形、中等海拔）对繁殖扩散并无显著影响。本研究强调，在制定物种保护策略时同时纳入栖息地选择与景观遗传学模型，能够确保保护资源的配置既满足物种的短期生存需求，又可维持长期的基因连通性。