Konvickova, H. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2024

Czech Republic butterfly barcoding reveals that distribution of genetic lineages depends on species traits

AimThe distribution of within-species lineages has been affected by Quaternary climate changes, and population differentiation has been influenced by species life histories. We investigated whether the distribution of individual mitochondrial genetic lineages reflects the constituent species traits. Using the functionally diverse group of butterflies, we examined which lineages are present in Central Europe, an important suture zone. LocationCzech Republic and Western Palearctic. TaxonA total of 140 butterfly species. MethodsWe sequenced DNA barcodes (cytochrome c oxidase 1) (959 sequences) of the entire Czech Republic butterfly fauna and used BOLD data to visualize the species biogeographic patterns across Europe. We categorised the distribution patterns of lineages inhabiting the Czech Republic, and used multivariate statistics to interpret these categories by the butterflies habitats, life histories, and threat levels. ResultsOpen habitat dwellers with specialist traits belonged to Eastern, Southern, and temperate lineages. Habitat generalists and woodland dwellers belonged to the Western lineage, formed several lineages, or displayed low genetic diversity; they often developed on woody plants, were large-winged, and had long flight periods. The most threatened species were the specialists of Southern, Eastern, and temperate lineages. Main conclusionsThe distribution of lineages in Central Europe reflects the history of Quaternary ecosystems: during cold periods of the Pleistocene, the diverse open habitats prevailed, and species could expand westwards. Such species also suffer the most under the current anthropogenic habitat alteration. On the other hand, the mobile generalists and woodland dwellers expanded to Central Europe during the Holocene. Our approach of linking the distribution of lineages with species traits can be transferred to other study systems, and we show that DNA barcoding of under-sampled areas represents a powerful tool for discovering the driving forces of biogeography.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Molecular analyses reveal consistent food web structure with elevation in rainforest Drosophila - parasitoid communities

The analysis of interaction networks across spatial environmental gradients is a powerful approach to investigate the responses of communities to global change. Using a combination of DNA metabarcoding and traditional molecular methods we built bipartite Drosophila-parasitoid food webs from six Australian rainforest sites across gradients spanning 850 m in elevation and 5{degrees} Celsius in mean temperature. Our cost-effective hierarchical approach to network reconstruction separated the determination of host frequencies from the detection and quantification of interactions. The food webs comprised 5-9 host and 5-11 parasitoid species at each site, and showed a lower incidence of parasitism at high elevation. Despite considerable turnover in the relative abundance of host Drosophila species, and contrary to some previous results, we did not detect significant changes to fundamental metrics of network structure including nestedness and specialisation with elevation. Advances in community ecology depend on data from a combination of methodological approaches. It is therefore especially valuable to develop model study systems for sets of closely-interacting species that are diverse enough to be representative, yet still amenable to field and laboratory experiments.

ecology↗