Dispersal is a key biological process serving several functions including connectivity among populations. Habitat fragmentation caused by natural or anthropogenic structures may hamper dispersal, thereby disrupting genetic connectivity. Investigating factors affecting dispersal and gene flow is important in the current era of anthropogenic global change, as dispersal comprises a vital part of a species’ resilience to environmental change. Using finescale landscape genomics, we investigated gene flow and genetic structure of the Sooty Copper butterfly (Lycaena tityrus) in the Alpine Ötz valley system in Austria. We found surprisingly high levels of gene flow in L. tityrus across the region. Nevertheless, ravines, forests, and roads had effects on genetic structure, while rivers did not. The latter is surprising as roads and rivers have a similar width and run largely in parallel in our study area, pointing towards a higher impact of anthropogenic compared with natural linear structures. Additionally, we detected eleven loci potentially under thermal selection, including ones related to membranes, metabolism, and immune function. This study demonstrates the usefulness of molecular approaches in obtaining estimates of dispersal and population processes in the wild. Our results suggest that, despite high gene flow in the Alpine valley system investigated, L. tityrus nevertheless seems to be vulnerable to anthropogenically‐driven habitat fragmentation. With anthropogenic rather than natural linear structures affecting gene flow, this may have important consequences for the persistence of species such as the butterfly studied here in altered landscapes.

中文翻译：

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人为和自然屏障影响高山蝴蝶的遗传连通性

分散是关键的生物学过程，具有多种功能，包括人群之间的连通性。由自然或人为结构造成的栖息地碎片化可能会阻碍扩散，从而破坏遗传连通性。在当今的人为全球变化时代，调查影响传播和基因流动的因素非常重要，因为传播构成物种对环境变化的适应力的重要组成部分。利用精细尺度的景观基因组学，我们研究了奥地利高山Ötz谷系统中煤烟铜蝴蝶（Lycaena tityrus）的基因流和遗传结构。我们惊奇地发现高水平的基因流动的L. tityrus整个地区。然而，沟壑，森林和道路对遗传结构有影响，而河流则没有。后者令人惊讶，因为在我们的研究区域中，道路和河流具有相似的宽度，并且在很大程度上平行延伸，这表明与自然线性结构相比，人为的影响更大。此外，我们检测到可能在热选择下的11个基因座，包括与膜，代谢和免疫功能有关的基因座。这项研究证明了分子方法在获得野外传播和种群过程估计的有用性。我们的结果表明，尽管在研究的高谷系统中存在大量基因流，但tityrus L. tityrus但是，似乎很容易受到人为驱动的栖息地破碎的影响。由于人为的而不是自然的线性结构影响基因流动，这可能对物种的持久性产生重要影响，例如在改变的景观中研究的蝴蝶。