A recent article published in Conservation Genetics by Gizelle Hurtado and Karen Mabry found that even low levels of urbanization can influence genetic structure of Merriam’s kangaroo rat. Researchers collected the kangaroo rats from Las Cruces, NM in 5 urban and 5 non-urban sites to compare genetic diversity and genetic structure between the two habitat types.
Genetic diversity was similar for urban and non-urban populations. But, there was lower mean expected heterozygosity in urban populations. Thus, there is slightly lower genetic diversity for urban than non-urban populations of kangaroo rats.
Genetic differentiation between urban populations was weak but significant and non-significant between non-urban populations. This suggests that there is less gene flow between urban populations than between non-urban populations.
In fact, when looking at the structure plot figure, there are two urban populations that share very little variation with all other populations. Also, all of the non-urban populations show that there is admixture between them, which reflects high gene flow.
Even though Las Cruces, NM is not a particularly large city, it does have an impact on the genetic connectivity of urban and non-urban populations of kangaroo rats. This means that even low levels of urbanization can have negative impacts!
I am interested in urban ecology and evolution. Urbanization can have drastic impacts on local ecosystems, both negative and positive, and creates a new environment for organisms to experience. To understand the impacts that urbanization plays on organisms, I look through the lense of population genetics and molecular evolution.
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