Barriers to gene flow and ring species formation

Author(s)

Martins, Ayana de Brito ; Martinez de Aguiar, Marcus Aloizio

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Evolution; v. 71, n. 2, p. 442-448, FEB 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

Ring species are groups of organisms that dispersed along a ring-shaped region in such a way that the two ends of the population that meet after many generations are reproductively isolated. They provide a rare opportunity to understand the role of spatial structuring in speciation. Here, we simulate the evolution of ring species assuming that individuals become sexually isolated if the genetic distance between them is above a certain threshold. The model incorporates two forms of dispersal limitation: exogenous geographic barriers that limit the population range and endogenous barriers that result in genetic structuring within the population range. As expected, species' properties that reduce gene flow within the population range facilitate the evolution of reproductive isolation and ring species formation. However, if populations are confined to narrow ranges by geographic barriers, ring species formation increases when local mating is less spatially restricted. Ring species are most likely to form if a population expands while confined to a quasi-unidimensional range but preserving high mobility in the direction of the range expansion. These conditions are unlikely to be met or persist in real populations and may explain why ring species are rare. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/06054-3 - Spatially distributed population dynamics: speciation and coevolution
• Grantee: Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 10/10155-3 - Spatially explicit speciation models: formation of ring species and the role of sex chromossomes in reproductive isolation
• Grantee: Ayana de Brito Martins
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate