No genetic differentiation among populations up to 300 km apart in three species of carrion beetles

Titelangaben

Schauer, Bastian ; Dutschke, Marvin ; Heurich, Marco ; von Hoermann, Christian ; Schlüter, Jens ; Lackner, Tomáš ; Busse, Annika ; Steiger, Sandra ; Brandl, Roland ; Müller, Jörg ; Feldhaar, Heike:
No genetic differentiation among populations up to 300 km apart in three species of carrion beetles.
In: Ecological Entomology. Bd. 50 (2025) Heft 6 . - S. 953-967.
ISSN 1365-2311
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13459

Volltext

	Format: PDF Name: Ecological Entomology - 2025 - Schauer - No genetic differentiation among populations up to 300 km apart in three species.pdf Version: Veröffentlichte Version Verfügbar mit der Lizenz Creative Commons BY 4.0: Namensnennung
	Download (1MB)

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation and loss globally threatens biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Fragmentation disrupts gene flow and isolates populations, endangering species persistence. Dispersal ability is critical for species to maintain gene flow among populations and colonising new habitats. However, most species' dispersal abilities are unknown, raising the question of whether species are dispersal or habitat limited. Carrion beetles recycle animal necromass, an important ecosystem function. In theory, species depending on ephemeral resources such as carrion have good dispersal abilities to colonise new habitat patches regularly. However, little is known about the dispersal capacity of carrion beetles. To infer such dispersal abilities, we investigated the population genetic structure of three common carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Silphinae): Nicrophorus vespilloides Herbst, Necrodes littoralis Linnaeus and Oiceoptoma thoracicum Linnaeus. We sampled individuals using liver-baited pitfall traps and laid out carcasses in 47 sites in four regions in southern Germany. The distances between sampling sites ranged from 100 m to 320 km. We used microsatellite markers to assess population genetic structure and gene flow at local and regional spatial scales. Markers were newly developed for N. littoralis and O. thoracicum. Pairwise FST, AMOVA and DAPC analyses revealed no significant population genetic structure within all three species, indicating no limitation in gene flow, even over long distances. Our data suggest excellent dispersal abilities in all three species without critical spatial limitation at the regional scale of our study. This implies that carrion management should focus more on habitat amount rather than spatial arrangements for the conservation of carrion insects.