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Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.

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A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals

Published on: March 13, 2011

An alpine plant shows no decrease in genetic diversity associated with rapid post-glacial range expansion.

Mackenzie Urquhart-Cronish¹, Colette S Berg², Dylan Moxley¹

¹Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

American Journal of Botany

|December 15, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Alpine plant range expansion following glacier retreat does not decrease genetic diversity. Colonization dynamics suggest dispersal is not solely from the leading edge, challenging some evolutionary predictions.

Keywords:

alpine glacier foreland genetic diversity genetic structure landscape genetics range expansion spatiotemporal scale

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics

Background:

Range expansion is a key species survival strategy under climate change.
Eco-evolutionary models predict decreased genetic diversity and fitness at the expanding range edge due to genetic drift.
These predictions are based on dispersal from the leading edge, a pattern observed in past continental-scale expansions but less studied in contemporary, smaller-scale events like alpine glacier recession.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate genetic diversity and differentiation patterns during contemporary range expansion in alpine environments.
To test eco-evolutionary model predictions of decreased genetic variation and increased differentiation at the leading edge of species' ranges.
To assess the applicability of established range expansion theories to recent, smaller-scale colonization events.

Main Methods:

Studied the alpine plant Erythranthe (Mimulus) lewisii undergoing range expansion on glacier forelands.
Quantified neutral genetic diversity using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
Inferred signatures of genetic drift by comparing genetic differentiation and variation between the historical range core and the contemporary range edge over space and time.

Main Results:

Found weak evidence for increased genetic differentiation towards the expanding range edge.
Observed no significant decrease in genetic diversity towards the range edge.
Results indicate that dispersal is not exclusively from the leading edge during this type of colonization.

Conclusions:

Demographic processes during colonization of areas revealed by alpine glacier retreat do not lead to a loss of genetic diversity over space and time.
The findings suggest that theoretical predictions of reduced range-edge fitness due to range expansion may not apply to contemporary alpine colonization.
Contemporary alpine range expansions may involve different dispersal dynamics than those seen in historical, large-scale expansions.