Gene flow in natural populations may be strongly influenced by landscape features. The integration of landscape characteristics in population genetic studies may thus improve our understanding of population functioning. In this study, we investigated the population genetic structure and gene flow pattern for the common vole, Microtus arvalis, in a heterogeneous landscape characterised by strong...

BACKGROUND The dispersal ability of queens is central to understanding ant life-history evolution, and plays a fundamental role in ant population and community dynamics, the maintenance of genetic diversity, and the spread of invasive ants. In tropical ecosystems, species from over 40 genera of ants establish colonies in the stems, hollow thorns, or leaf pouches of specialized plants. However, ...

As with many animal and plant groups, Madagascar has a high level of endemicity among its bee fauna (Pauly et al., 2001). While it has been assumed that many Malagasy bee taxa have resulted from dispersal events across the Mozambique Channel (e.g. Michener, 1977), there have been no studies that have explicitly assessed how frequently bees have been able to cross this barrier or have assessed t...

Dispersal can play an important role in the genetic structuring of natural populations. In this regard, freshwater fishes often exhibit extensive population genetic subdivision and are ideal subjects for investigating current and historical patterns of connection and dissociation between drainages. We set out to generate a comprehensive molecular phylogeny for a widespread freshwater fish from ...

More than 5,000 km separates the frequently disturbed coral reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) from western sources of population replenishment. It has been hypothesized that El Niño events facilitate eastward dispersal across this East Pacific Barrier (EPB). Here we present a biophysical coral larval dispersal model driven by 14.5 years of high-resolution surface ocean current data in...

The ability of genetic isolation to block gene flow plays a key role in the speciation of sexually reproducing organisms. This paper analyses the hybrid zone dynamics affected by"weak"Haldane's rule, namely the incomplete hybrids inferiority (sterility/inviability) against the heterogametic (XY or ZW) sex caused by a Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibility. Different strengths of incompatibility, dis...

Abstract The present study was based on the idea of a pheromone trap barrier with alternating dispensers releasing different mixtures that affect males and females differently. We tested possibility increasing catch efficacy barriers by altering mixture low levels cis-Verbenol (cV, targeting males, BM), high cV (targeting females, BF) intermediate (SL). In addition, we were interested in loweri...

The boundaries between oceanographic domains often function as dispersal barriers for many temperate marine species with a dispersive pelagic larval phase. Yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus, YR) are widely distributed across the northeastern Pacific Ocean, inhabiting coastal rocky reefs from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska through southern California. This species exhibits an extended pela...

Transform faults are geological structures that interrupt the continuity of mid-ocean ridges and can act as dispersal barriers for hydrothermal vent organisms. In the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, it has been hypothesized that long transform faults impede gene flow between the northern and the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) and disconnect a northern from a southern biogeographic province. To te...

OBJECTIVE Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus via air may play an important role in healthcare settings. This study investigates the impact of barrier precautions on the spread of airborne S. aureus by volunteers with experimentally induced rhinovirus infection (ie, the common cold). DESIGN Prospective nonrandomized study. SETTING Wake Forest University School of Medicine (Winston-Salem, ...