Consequences of metapopulation collapse: comparison of genetic attributes between two Allegheny woodrat metapopulations

Disruptions in metapopulation connectivity due to demographic pressure can leave genetically isolated subpopulations susceptible to genetic drift, accumulation of deleterious alleles, and inbreeding depression. Such a scenario may be playing out within Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) metapopulations as a series of synergistic extrinsic pressures have contributed to the rangewide decline of the species over the last 40 years. Our goal was to elucidate the effects of demographic collapse on metapopulation function by using 11 microsatellites markers to quantify differences in patterns of connectivity and genetic diversity between a demographically stable metapopulation and one in severe demographic decline. The demographically diminished metapopulation had lower levels of genetic diversity than the stable metapopulation at all levels evaluated (metapopulation-, subpopulation-, and individual-scales). In contrast to patterns of connectivity observed within the stable metapopulation, peripheral subpopulations in the diminished metapopulation had become completely isolated and were drifting toward genetic fixation, likely as a result of the extirpation of stepping-stone subpopulations. The declining genetic parameters observed within these isolated peripheral subpopulations suggest that inbreeding depression may be contributing significantly to their demographic decline. Allegheny woodrats readily express the genetic consequences of metapopulation decline due to the low effective population sizes of subpopulations and the species’ limited dispersal capacity. Differences in genetic parameters observed between demographically stable and diminished Allegheny woodrat metapopulations emphasize the risks posed to metapopulation function and associated genetic processes introduced with demographic decline.