The tale of springs and streams: how different aquatic ecosystems impacted the mtDNA population structure of two riffle beetles in the Western Carpathians

PeerJ

article

Jana Bozáňová¹  Zuzana Čiamporová Zat’ovičová²  Fedor Čiampor Jr²  Tomasz Mamos³  Michał Grabowski³ 

[1] Department of Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava;ZooLab, Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences;Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology & Environmental Protection, University of Łódź;Zoological Institute, University of Basel

关键词: Riffle beetles;    Karst springs;    Western Carpathians;    COI;    Genetic diversity;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.10039

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The Western Carpathians are a particularly interesting part of the Carpathian Arc. According to recent molecular data upon aquatic and terrestrial taxa, this mountain area is an important biodiversity hotspot of Europe. Moreover, the W Carpathians include rich systems of karst springs inhabited by specific fauna, where molecular diversity and phylogeographic patterns are yet to be fully explored. Our study aims to compare population genetic structure and molecular diversity of two related and commonly co-occurring riffle beetles, Elmis aenea (PWJ Müller, 1806) and Limnius perrisi (Dufour, 1843) in the springs and streams of the W Carpathians using the mitochondrial DNA barcoding fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI). The relatively stable thermal and chemical conditions of springs throughout unfavourable climatic settings make these highly specific lotic systems potentially ideal for a long-term survival of some aquatic biota. Populations of both elmid species were relatively homogeneous genetically, with a single dominant haplotype. However, we revealed that E. aenea significantly dominated in the springs, while L. perrisi preferred streams. Relative isolation of the springs and their stable conditions were reflected in significantly higher molecular diversity of the E. aenea population in comparison to L. perrisi. The results of Bayesian Skyline Plot analysis also indicated the exceptional position of springs regarding maintaining the population size of E. aenea. On the other hand, it seems that streams in the W Carpathians provide more effective dispersal channels for L. perrisi, whose population expanded much earlier compared to E. aenea. Present study points out that different demographic histories of these two closely related elmid species are manifested by their different habitat preference and molecular diversity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY