Determinants of genetic diversity and species richness of North American amphibians

Abstract

Ecological limits on the population sizes and number of species a region is capable of supporting are thought to simultaneously produce spatial patterns in genetic diversity and species richness. However, we do not know the extent to which resource-based environmental limits jointly determine these patterns of biodiversity in ectotherms because of their low energy requirements compared to endotherms. Here, we adapt a framework for the ways ecological limits may shape genetic diversity and species richness previously tested in mammals for amphibians to determine whether similar processes produce continental patterns of biodiversity across both taxa. Repurposing open, raw microsatellite data from 19 species sampled at 554 sites in North America we found that spatial patterns of genetic diversity run opposite to patterns of species richness and genetic differentiation. However, while measures of resource availability and niche heterogeneity predict 89% of the variation in species richness, these landscape metrics are poor predictors of genetic diversity. Although heterogeneity appears to be an important driver of genetic and species biodiversity patterns in both amphibians and mammals, our results suggest that variation in genetic diversity both within and across species makes it difficult to infer general processes producing spatial patterns of amphibian genetic diversity.