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Survival of cold-adapted species in isolated mountains: the population genetics of the Sudeten ringlet, Erebia sudetica sudetica, in the Jeseník Mts., Czech Republic

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Abstract

Relic populations of cold-adapted species, trapped in isolated mountain pockets within the temperate zone, are predicted to suffer considerably due to ongoing climate warming. The butterfly Erebia sudetica sudetica is an example restricted to the Eastern Sudety Mts. Here, the butterfly forms permanent populations on subalpine tall-herb grasslands, but also occupies woodland clearings and hay meadows at lower altitudes. We assume differences among the genetic diversities of the populations due to differences in the temporal continuity of these habitats. Therefore, 17 allozyme loci were analysed for 276 individuals from 13 different localities (six tall-herb stands, two meadows, five forest clearings) in the Jeseník Mts. with a maximum distance of 20 km among them. We obtained a significantly higher genetic diversity for the subalpine populations than for the forest clearing populations. The genetic differentiation among the forest clearing populations was higher than among the subalpine ones. They also showed a significant isolation-by-distance system. These findings support the idea that the lower-elevation populations might have been founded by more than one dispersal event from the subalpine sites, but also secondary colonisations and gene flow in the forest belt. Due to founder effects and possibly further subsequent bottlenecks, these forest clearing populations did not harbour the entire genetic diversity of the taxon. Therefore, conservation actions should focus on the subalpine tall-herb formation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the administration of the Jeseniky Protected Landscape Area for entry and sampling permits, and logistic support. The study was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (P505/10/1630).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Centre, Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), Branišovská 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Martin Konvička & Jiří Beneš

  2. University South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

    Martin Konvička

  3. Department Taxonomy and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University Babes-Bolyai, Cluj, Romania

    Ciprian V. Mihaly & László Rákosy

  4. Institute of Life Sciences, Vasile Goldis’ Western University of Arad, Arad, Romania

    Ciprian V. Mihaly

  5. Department of Biogeography, Faculty Regional and Environmental Sciences, Trier University, Trier, Germany

    Thomas Schmitt

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  1. Martin Konvička
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Correspondence to Martin Konvička.

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Konvička, M., Mihaly, C.V., Rákosy, L. et al. Survival of cold-adapted species in isolated mountains: the population genetics of the Sudeten ringlet, Erebia sudetica sudetica, in the Jeseník Mts., Czech Republic. J Insect Conserv 18, 153–161 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9621-0

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