Dissertation Research: Factors Mediating Gene Flow in a Mobile and Continuously Distributed Species, the Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

For most animal species, natural or man-made barriers such as waterways, roads, or habitat gaps often constrain the movement of individuals across a landscape, reducing genetic exchange and isolating members into distinct populations. But highly mobile, broadly distributed species may be less susceptible to such barriers and hence genetic subdivision. This study will identify if and how landscape characteristics mediate gene flow over three spatial scales in a mobile carnivore, the bobcat (Lynx rufus). At the local scale, telemetry, genetic, and landscape data will be combined to test whether habitat fragmentation influences movement and fine-scale genetic structuring of bobcats within an agricultural landscape. At the regional scale, genetic patterns will be used to delineate populations and identify landscape characteristics influencing recent expansions of bobcats into areas from which they had been extirpated. At the continental scale, DNA samples will be collected and analyzed from across the United States to determine whether landscape features also generate deeper, broad-scale genetic divergences that warrant recognition as distinct subspecies. This project will lead to significant improvements in our understanding of how landscape characteristics may influence evolutionary and ecological processes in mobile species like bobcats. Such findings are important for evaluating the potential impact of landscape changes on population dynamics and species persistence, predicting the spread of emerging diseases, and effectively managing wildlife. This work will also foster science education through mentoring and outreach, and by providing a hands-on research experience for a high school biology teacher.