1. Genetic differentiation at extreme latitudes in the socially plastic sweat bee Halictus rubicundus.
- Author
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Michels BA, Beekman MM, Field J, Gruber J, Pannebakker BA, Savill C, and Boulton RA
- Subjects
- Animals, Bees genetics, Bees physiology, Genetic Variation, Microsatellite Repeats genetics, Scotland, Genetics, Population, Gene Flow
- Abstract
The sweat bee Halictus rubicundus is an important pollinator with a large latitudinal range and many potential barriers to gene flow. Alongside typical physical barriers, including mountain ranges and oceans, the climate may also impose restrictions on gene flow in this species. The climate influences voltinism and sociality in H. rubicundus, which is bivoltine and can nest socially at warmer lower latitudes but tends to be univoltine and solitary in the cooler north. Variation in voltinism could result in phenological differences, potentially limiting gene flow, but a previous study found no evidence for this in H. rubicundus populations in mainland Britain. Here we extend the previous study to consider populations of H. rubicundus at extreme northern and southern latitudes in the UK. We found that bees from a population in the far north of Scotland were genetically differentiated from bees collected in Cornwall in the south-west of England. In contrast, bees collected across the Irish Sea in Northern Ireland showed slight genetic overlap with both the Scottish and Cornish bees. Our results suggest that when populations at extreme latitudes are considered, phenology and the climate may act alongside physical barriers such as the Scottish Highlands and the Irish Sea to restrict gene flow in H. rubicundus. We discuss the implications of our results for local adaptation in the face of rapidly changing selection pressures which are likely under climate change., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Michels et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
- Published
- 2024
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