title: Temporally dynamic habitat suitability predicts genetic relatedness among caribou.
abstract: Landscape heterogeneity plays a central role in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes. While species utilization of the landscape is usually viewed as constant within a year, the spatial distribution of individuals is likely to vary in time in relation to particular seasonal needs. Understanding temporal variation in landscape use and genetic connectivity has direct conservation implications. Here, we modelled the daily use of the landscape by caribou in Quebec and Labrador, Canada and tested its ability to explain the genetic relatedness among individuals. We assessed habitat selection using locations of collared individuals in migratory herds and static occurrences from sedentary groups. Connectivity models based on habitat use outperformed a baseline isolation-by-distance model in explaining genetic relatedness, suggesting that variations in landscape features such as snow, vegetation productivity and land use modulate connectivity among populations. Connectivity surfaces derived from habitat use were the best predictors of genetic relatedness. The relationship between connectivity surface and genetic relatedness varied in time and peaked during the rutting period. Landscape permeability in the period of mate searching is especially important to allow gene flow among populations. Our study highlights the importance of considering temporal variations in habitat selection for optimizing connectivity across heterogeneous landscape and counter habitat fragmentation.
authors.affiliation: Caribou Ungava, Département de Biologie and Centre d'Etudes Nordiques, Université Laval, 1045 Avenue de la Médecine, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6 Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Pavillon Charles-Eugène-Marchand, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6 glenn.yannic@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yannic
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology Unit of Ecology and Evolution, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Loïc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pellissier
authors.affiliation: Caribou Ungava, Département de Biologie and Centre d'Etudes Nordiques, Université Laval, 1045 Avenue de la Médecine, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Maël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Le Corre
authors.affiliation: Direction de la Faune Terrestre et de l'Avifaune, Ministère du Développement Durable, de l'Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec, 880 chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, Québec, Canada G1S 4X4.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dussault
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Pavillon Charles-Eugène-Marchand, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernatchez
authors.affiliation: Caribou Ungava, Département de Biologie and Centre d'Etudes Nordiques, Université Laval, 1045 Avenue de la Médecine, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: Steeve D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Côté
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D051456:Gene Flow; D005828:Genetics, Population; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador; D011792:Quebec; D012053:Reindeer / Q000235:genetics*; D012621:Seasons; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal
keywords: Rangifer tarandus; causal modelling; circuit theory; habitat suitability models; landscape genetics; least-cost path