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Dryad

Data from: Fire increases genetic diversity of populations of Six-lined Racerunner

Cite this dataset

Ragsdale, Alexandria K. et al. (2016). Data from: Fire increases genetic diversity of populations of Six-lined Racerunner [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j5sf2

Abstract

Wildfires are highly variable and can disturb habitats, leading to direct and indirect effects on the genetic characteristics of local populations. Florida scrub is a fire-dependent, highly fragmented, and severely threatened habitat. Understanding the effect of fire on genetic characteristics of the species that use this habitat is critically important. We investigated one such lizard, the Six-lined Racerunner (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), which has a strong preference for open areas. We collected Six-lined Racerunners (n=154) from 11 sites in Highlands County Florida and defined two time-since-last-fire categories: recently burned and long unburned. We screened genetic variation at six microsatellites to estimate genetic differentiation and compare genetic diversity among sites to determine the relationship with time-since-last-fire. A clear pattern exists between genetic diversity and time-since-last-fire in the absence of strong genetic differentiation. Genetic diversity was greater and inbreeding was lower in sites with more recent time-since-last-fire, and genetic characteristics had significantly larger variance in long unburned sites compared to more recently burned sites. Our results suggest that fire suppression increases variance in genetic characteristics of the Six-lined Racerunner. More generally, fire may benefit genetic characteristics of some species that use fire dependent habitats and management efforts for such severely fragmented habitat will be challenged by the presence of multiple species with incompatible fire preferences.

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