As the rate of urbanization continues to increase globally, a growing body of research is emerging that investigates how urbanization shapes the movement—and consequent gene flow—of species in cities. Of particular interest are native species that persist in cities, either as small relict populations or as larger populations of synanthropic species that thrive alongside humans in new urban environments. In this study, we used genomic sequence data (SNPs) and spatially explicit individual‐based analyses to directly compare the genetic structure and patterns of gene flow in two small mammals with different dispersal abilities that occupy the same urbanized landscape to evaluate how mobility impacts genetic connectivity. We collected 215 white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and 380 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) across an urban‐to‐rural gradient within the Providence, Rhode Island (U.S.A.) metropolitan area (population =1,600,000 people). We found that mice and bats exhibit clear differences in their spatial genetic structure that are consistent with their dispersal abilities, with urbanization having a stronger effect on Peromyscus mice. There were sharp breaks in the genetic structure of mice within the Providence urban core, as well as reduced rates of migration and an increase in inbreeding with more urbanization. In contrast, bats showed very weak genetic structuring across the entire study area, suggesting a near‐panmictic gene pool likely due to the ability to disperse by flight. Genetic diversity remained stable for both species across the study region. Mice also exhibited a stronger reduction in gene flow between island and mainland populations than bats. This study represents one of the first to directly compare multiple species within the same urban‐to‐rural landscape gradient, an important gap to fill for urban ecology and evolution. Moreover, here we document the impacts of dispersal capacity on connectivity for native species that have persisted as the urban landscape matrix expands.

中文翻译：

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扩散能力预测了本地哺乳动物在城市化梯度中持续存在的空间遗传结构


随着全球城市化率不断加快，越来越多的研究不断涌现，探讨城市化如何影响城市中物种的运动以及随之而来的基因流动。特别令人感兴趣的是在城市中持续存在的本地物种，它们要么是少量的残余种群，要么是在新的城市环境中与人类一起繁衍生息的大量共生物种。在这项研究中，我们使用基因组序列数据（SNP）和基于空间的明确个体分析，直接比较占据同一城市化景观的两种具有不同扩散能力的小型哺乳动物的遗传结构和基因流模式，以评估流动性如何影响遗传连接性。我们在美国罗德岛州普罗维登斯大都市区（人口=1,600,000人）内的城乡梯度中收集了 215 只白足小鼠 ( Peromyscus leucopus ) 和 380 只大棕蝠 ( Eptesicus fuscus )。我们发现小鼠和蝙蝠在空间遗传结构上表现出明显的差异，这与它们的分散能力一致，城市化对白鼠的影响更大。普罗维登斯城市核心区小鼠的遗传结构发生了急剧断裂，随着城市化程度的提高，迁徙率降低，近亲繁殖增加。相比之下，蝙蝠在整个研究区域表现出非常弱的遗传结构，这表明蝙蝠的基因库可能是由于飞行而分散的能力所致。在整个研究区域，这两个物种的遗传多样性保持稳定。与蝙蝠相比，小鼠在岛屿和大陆种群之间的基因流动也表现出更明显的减少。 这项研究是第一个直接比较同一城乡景观梯度内多个物种的研究之一，这是填补城市生态和进化方面的一个重要空白。此外，我们在这里记录了扩散能力对本地物种连通性的影响，这些影响随着城市景观矩阵的扩展而持续存在。