CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

In recent years the interest of researchers on landscape genetics has increased widely. This new discipline involves studies which integrate data analysis and methods from landscape ecology, spatial statistics, geography, and population genetics to understand the spatial distribution of genetic variation. Landscape genetics examines the contemporary processes affecting genetic variation incorporating the effects of gene flow rates, population connectivity, and landscape features. We aim to give ecologists a glimpse on genetic tools available for population-level analysis at the landscape scale. We hereby present a case study on Nothofagus pumilio a widely distributed tree species in the austral temperate forests of Argentina and Chile. We combined genetic evidence with landscape features to analyze the survivorship of this species in glacial refugia and possible long-distance migration events that occurred during past range shifts. We assessed nuclear genetic variation on 41 populations collected along the latitudinal range of distribution and we modeled the ecological niche (ENM) in current conditions and during the last glacial maximum (LGM) based on 19 bioclimatic variables. The results of ENM show multiple suitable areas for species persistence during the LGM, even in high-latitude environments. Genetic analyses evidenced similar levels of variation in north and south populations, while intermediate populations presented the highest levels of diversity and population structure, indicating restrictions for gene flow between north and south. Our data suggest that N. pumilio has survived in multiple ice-free locations during glacial periods in small populations that have acted as genetic reservoirs to recolonize nearby areas after ice retreat.

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