Context Anthropogenic activities have detrimental impacts on natural habitats and the species inhabiting them. In particular, habitat fragmentation has a profound effect on the dynamics and structure of natural populations and the species’ probability of persistence. Objectives In this study, we examined which factors determine the population structure of Ctenomys species (tuco-tucos) at a local scale, evaluating the effects of natural and anthropic barriers on population divergence. Methods We sampled tuco-tucos at 28 localities and genotyped 231 individuals at 11 microsatellite loci. Additionally, we built six spatial layers that describe the landscape inhabited by tuco-tucos, to evaluate the effects of habitat traits in the movement of individuals. We applied Bayesian clustering methods to infer the population structure, and landscape genetic tools to understand how landscape traits affect this structure. Results We detected a high degree of population structure, even at a small spatial scale. Genetic structure seems to be influenced not only by current landscape configuration but also by their recent evolution. Altitude was the main contributing factor explaining this structure, with independent populations restricted to different sandy elevations in the region. However, anthropic activities were also shown to have had a significant effect on the differentiation among populations. Conclusions The accelerated transformation process that the region is undergoing strongly conditions the dynamics of population differentiation in Ctenomys and reduces prospects of viability for the species. Our findings underscore the importance of incorporating variables that describe the temporal component of habitat changes in landscapes experiencing intense and recent transformation processes.

中文翻译：

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碎片化：生活在受人类影响的湿地中的地下啮齿动物（哺乳动物，Ctenomyidae）的景观遗传学

背景 人为活动对自然栖息地和栖息在其中的物种产生不利影响。特别是，栖息地破碎化对自然种群的动态和结构以及物种的持续可能性具有深远的影响。目标 在这项研究中，我们检查了哪些因素决定了当地尺度的 Ctenomys 物种 (tuco-tucos) 的种群结构，评估了自然和人为障碍对种群分化的影响。方法 我们在 28 个地点对 tuco-tucos 进行了采样，并对 11 个微卫星位点的 231 个个体进行了基因分型。此外，我们建立了六个空间层来描述 tuco-tucos 居住的景观，以评估栖息地特征对个体运动的影响。我们应用贝叶斯聚类方法来推断人口结构，和景观遗传工具，以了解景观特征如何影响这种结构。结果 我们检测到高度的人口结构，即使是在很小的空间尺度上。遗传结构似乎不仅受到当前景观配置的影响，而且还受到它们最近进化的影响。海拔是解释这种结构的主要因素，独立种群仅限于该地区不同的沙地海拔。然而，人类活动也被证明对种群间的分化有显着影响。结论 该地区正在经历的加速转化过程强烈地影响了 Ctenomys 种群分化的动态，并降低了该物种生存能力的前景。