Nonstationary Patterns of Isolation‐by‐distance: Inferring Measures of Local Genetic Differentiation With Bayesian Kriging
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Patterns of isolation-by-distance (IBD) arise when population differentiation increases with increasing geographic distances. Patterns of IBD are usually caused by local spatial dispersal, which explains why differences of allele frequencies between populations accumulate with distance. However, spatial variations of demographic parameters such as migration rate or population density can generate nonstationary patterns of IBD where the rate at which genetic differentiation accumulates varies across space. To characterize nonstationary patterns of IBD, we infer local genetic differentiation based on Bayesian kriging. Local genetic differentiation for a sampled population is defined as the average genetic differentiation between the sampled population and fictive neighboring populations. To avoid defining populations in advance, the method can also be applied at the scale of individuals making it relevant for landscape genetics. Inference of local genetic differentiation relies on a matrix of pairwise similarity or dissimilarity between populations or individuals such as matrices of FST between pairs of populations. Simulation studies show that maps of local genetic differentiation can reveal barriers to gene flow but also other patterns such as continuous variations of gene flow across habitat. The potential of the method is illustrated with two datasets: single nucleotide polymorphisms from human Swedish populations and dominant markers for alpine plant species.
Source: Evolution
DOI: 10.1111/evo.12342
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,214
Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche
OpenAlex ID: W1506192471