Genome-wide association analysis of life-history and dispersal traits in wild populations undergoing natural range expansion
Gabriel Rizo* , Amanda Stahlke
Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO, Mesa Country, grrizo@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
Restoration outcomes can be quickly shaped by how quickly introduced biological control agents adapt across the landscape and can improve expectations for long-term management. Recent work has shown that range expansion over heterogenous environments contributed to differences in life-history and dispersal traits in the tamarisk beetle Diorhabda carinulata, a recently introduced biological control agent. Those studies suggested that selection at low densities, may be the dominant evolutionary process over expansion load, contradicting classically assumed genetic diversity limitations. We aim to investigate this paradox by assessing genetic variance at single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with life-history and dispersal variation across sequenced individuals from core and edge populations. This poster aims to describe the approaches used to conduct association analysis and determine how maintenance of heritability and genetic variation in edge populations was retained even in the face of contrary evolutionary and ecological theory.