phylin: an r package for phylogeographic interpolation

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Phylogeographic data analysis requires methods to understand the spatial distribution of genetic lineages.
• Existing spatial interpolation techniques may not fully capture the complexities of genetic distance and spatial dependence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce phylin, an R package for spatial interpolation of phylogeographic data.
• To provide advanced methods for predicting lineage occurrence, contact zones, and uncertainty in spatial genetic models.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes a modified kriging method incorporating genetic distance matrices to model spatial dependence.
• Assesses autocorrelation structure of genetic information for robust interpolation.
• Includes functions for plotting interpolated surfaces and generating summary tables.

Main Results:

• Demonstrates phylin's utility in inferring spatial occurrence of Vipera latastei lineages in the Iberian Peninsula.
• Identifies potential contact areas between distinct evolutionary lineages.
• Generates phylogenetic pattern maps for hypothesis testing and conservation planning.

Conclusions:

• phylin offers improved spatial interpolation for phylogeographic data.
• The package facilitates the spatial contextualization of genetic diversity patterns.
• Results can inform evolutionary hypotheses and conservation strategies.