Beer, Marc A., Trumbo, Daryl R., Rautsaw, Rhett M., Kozakiewicz, Christopher P., Epstein, Brendan, Hohenlohe, Paul A., Alford, Ross A., Schwarzkopf, Lin, and Storfer, Andrew (2024) Spatial variation in genomic signatures of local adaptation during the cane toad invasion of Australia. Molecular Ecology, 33 (16). e17464.

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Abstract

Adaptive evolution can facilitate species' range expansions across environmentally heterogeneous landscapes. However, serial founder effects can limit the efficacy of selection, and the evolution of increased dispersal during range expansions may result in gene flow swamping local adaptation. Here, we study how genetic drift, gene flow and selection interact during the cane toad's (Rhinella marina) invasion across the heterogeneous landscape of Australia. Following its introduction in 1935, the cane toad colonised eastern Australia and established several stable range edges. The ongoing, more rapid range expansion in north-central Australia has occurred concomitant with an evolved increase in dispersal capacity. Using reduced representation genomic data of Australian cane toads from the expansion front and from two areas of their established range, we test the hypothesis that high gene flow constrains local adaptation at the expansion front relative to established areas. Genetic analyses indicate the three study areas are genetically distinct but show similar levels of allelic richness, heterozygosity and inbreeding. Markedly higher gene flow or recency of colonisation at the expansion front have likely hindered local adaptation at the time of sampling, as indicated by reduced slopes of genetic-environment associations (GEAs) estimated using a novel application of geographically weighted regression that accounts for allele surfing; GEA slopes are significantly steeper in established parts of the range. Our work bolsters evidence supporting adaptation of invasive species post-introduction and adds novel evidence for differing strengths of evolutionary forces among geographic areas with different invasion histories.

Item ID:	85553
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1365-294X
Copyright Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Date Deposited:	21 May 2025 00:11
FoR Codes:	31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3102 Bioinformatics and computational biology > 310204 Genomics and transcriptomics @ 50% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310308 Terrestrial ecology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences @ 100%
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