Evolution 2019: Urban Coyotes are Genetically Distinct from and Less Diverse than Coyotes in Natural Habitats

Habitat fragmentation associated with urbanisation if often thought to limit the movement of mobile species, potentially leading to genetically distinct clusters of individuals across a city. Identifying the landscape features that act as barriers to dispersal and drive population differentiation has become a central goal in recent urban evolution research.

Javier Monzón, an assistant professor of Biology at Pepperdine University, is investigating how cities influence genetic differentiation in the charismatic canid, the wild coyote. Coyotes are known to partition habitat on large scale, but whether they do so on smaller scales (e.g., across cities) is unknown. Genotyping 126 coyotes in and around Los Angeles at 10 microsattelite loci revealed 4 distinct genetic clusters of coyotes across the city. One of these appeared predominantly associated with the mountains surrounding the city, while two others within the city appeared separated by a river, suggesting this may be acting as a barrier to gene flow. The genetic cluster from the mountains had greater genetic diversity than the 3 clusters within the city, suggesting urbanisation may be reducing genetic diversity in this species. As a follow-up, Javier will be generating genome-wide data to gain increased resolution into how urbanisation is influencing the genetic diversity of coyotes. He will also be collaring individuals to gain insight into their movement patterns around Los Angeles, which may help explain the observed patterns of genetic diversity and further identify barriers to movement in this species.

Featured image: Javier Monzón, assistant professor of Biology at Pepperdine University, presents his work at the Evolution 2019 conference in Providence, RI.

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James Santangelo

PhD Candidate at University of Toronto

James is a PhD candidate with Marc Johnson and Rob Ness in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto. He uses the model system white clover to investigate how urban environments alter evolutionary processes, and whether these effects are consistent across cities (i.e., parallel).

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• Evolution 2019: Urban Coyotes are Genetically Distinct from and Less Diverse than Coyotes in Natural Habitats - June 27, 2019