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Satokangas I, Nouhaud P, Seifert B, Punttila P, Schultz R, Jones MM, Sirén J, Helanterä H, Kulmuni J. Semipermeable species boundaries create opportunities for gene flow and adaptive potential. Mol Ecol 2023. [PMID: 37222024 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Hybridisation and gene flow can have both deleterious and adaptive consequences for natural populations and species. To better understand the extent of hybridisation in nature and the balance between its beneficial and deleterious outcomes in a changing environment, information on naturally hybridising nonmodel organisms is needed. This requires the characterisation of the structure and extent of natural hybrid zones. Here, we study natural populations of five keystone mound-building wood ant species in the Formica rufa group across Finland. No genomic studies across the species group exist, and the extent of hybridisation and genomic differentiation in sympatry is unknown. Combining genome-wide and morphological data, we demonstrate more extensive hybridisation than was previously detected between all five species in Finland. Specifically, we reveal a mosaic hybrid zone between Formica aquilonia, F. rufa and F. polyctena, comprising further generation hybrid populations. Despite this, we find that F. rufa, F. aquilonia, F. lugubris and F. pratensis form distinct gene pools in Finland. We also find that hybrids occupy warmer microhabitats than the nonadmixed populations of cold-adapted F. aquilonia, and suggest that warm winters and springs, in particular, may benefit hybrids over F. aquilonia, the most abundant F. rufa group species in Finland. In summary, our results indicate that extensive hybridisation may create adaptive potential that could promote wood ant persistence in a changing climate. Additionally, they highlight the potentially significant ecological and evolutionary consequences of extensive mosaic hybrid zones, within which independent hybrid populations face an array of ecological and intrinsic selection pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Satokangas
- Organismal & Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - P Nouhaud
- CBGP, INRAE, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - B Seifert
- Department of Entomology, Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde, Görlitz, Germany
| | - P Punttila
- Biodiversity Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland
| | - R Schultz
- Department of Entomology, Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde, Görlitz, Germany
| | - M M Jones
- Institute of Biotechnology, HILIFE - Helsinki Institute for Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - J Sirén
- Institute of Biotechnology, HILIFE - Helsinki Institute for Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - H Helanterä
- Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - J Kulmuni
- Organismal & Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
- Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Hakala SM, Seppä P, Heikkilä M, Punttila P, Sorvari J, Helanterä H. Genetic analysis reveals Finnish Formica fennica populations do not form a separate genetic entity from F. exsecta. PeerJ 2018; 6:e6013. [PMID: 30564515 PMCID: PMC6286808 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Coptoformica Müller, 1923 is a subgenus of Formica Linnaeus, 1758 that consists of c. a dozen species of ants that typically inhabit open grassy habitats and build small nest mounds. The most recent addition to the group is Formica fennica Seifert, 2000. The description was based on morphological characters, but the species status has not been confirmed by molecular methods. In this study, we use thirteen DNA microsatellite markers and a partial mitochondrial COI gene sequence to assess the species status of F. fennica, by comparing the genetic variation among samples identified as F. fennica and six other boreal Formica (Coptoformica) species. Most of the species studied form separate, discontinuous clusters in phylogenetic and spatial analyses with only little intraspecific genetic variation. However, both nuclear and mitochondrial markers fail to separate the species pair F. exsecta Nylander, 1846 and F. fennica despite established morphological differences. The genetic variation within the F. exsecta/fennica group is extensive, but reflects spatial rather than morphological differences. Finnish F. fennica populations studied so far should not be considered a separate species, but merely a morph of F. exsecta.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanja Maria Hakala
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Perttu Seppä
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Maria Heikkilä
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Jouni Sorvari
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Heikki Helanterä
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland.,Ecology and genetics research unit, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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Noreika N, Kotiaho JS, Penttinen J, Punttila P, Vuori A, Pajunen T, Autio O, Loukola OJ, Kotze DJ. Rapid recovery of invertebrate communities after ecological restoration of boreal mires. Restor Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.12237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Norbertas Noreika
- Department of Biosciences; University of Helsinki; PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1) FI-00014 Helsinki Finland
- Department of Environmental Sciences; University of Helsinki; PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 2a) FI-00014 Helsinki Finland
| | - Janne S. Kotiaho
- Department of Biology & Environmental Sciences; University of Jyväskylä; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Jouni Penttinen
- Metsähallitus; Parks & Wildlife Finland; Kalevankatu 8 (PL 36) FI-40100 Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Pekka Punttila
- Finnish Environment Institute; PO Box 140 FI-00251 Helsinki Finland
| | - Anna Vuori
- Department of Biology & Environmental Sciences; University of Jyväskylä; PO Box 35 FI-40014 Jyväskylä Finland
| | - Timo Pajunen
- Finnish Museum of Natural History; University of Helsinki; PO Box 17 FI-00014 Helsinki Finland
| | - Olli Autio
- Centre for Economic Development; Transport and the Environment in South Ostrobothnia; PO Box 252 FI-65101 Vaasa Finland
| | - Olli J. Loukola
- Department of Biology; University of Oulu; PO Box 3000 FI-90014 Oulu Finland
| | - D. Johan Kotze
- Department of Environmental Sciences; University of Helsinki; PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 2a) FI-00014 Helsinki Finland
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Finér L, Jurgensen MF, Domisch T, Kilpeläinen J, Neuvonen S, Punttila P, Risch AC, Ohashi M, Niemelä P. The Role of Wood Ants (Formica rufa group) in Carbon and Nutrient Dynamics of a Boreal Norway Spruce Forest Ecosystem. Ecosystems 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10021-012-9608-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Punttila P, Kilpeläinen J. Distribution of Mound-Building Ant Species (Formicaspp., Hymenoptera) in Finland: Preliminary Results of a National Survey. ANN ZOOL FENN 2009. [DOI: 10.5735/086.046.0101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Punttila P, Haila Y, Pajunen T, Tukia H, Haila Y. Colonisation of Clearcut Forests by Ants in the Southern Finnish Taiga: A Quantitative Survey. OIKOS 1991. [DOI: 10.2307/3545343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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