Topographic barriers drive the pronounced genetic subdivision of a range‐limited fossorial rodent

Abstract

AbstractDue to their limited dispersal ability, fossorial species with predominantly belowground activity usually show increased levels of population subdivision across relatively small spatial scales. This may be exacerbated in harsh mountain ecosystems, where landscape geomorphology limits species' dispersal ability and leads to small effective population sizes, making species relatively vulnerable to environmental change. To better understand the environmental drivers of species' population subdivision in remote mountain ecosystems, particularly in understudied high‐elevation systems in Africa, we studied the giant root‐rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a fossorial rodent confined to the afro‐alpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. Using mitochondrial and low‐coverage nuclear genomes, we investigated 77 giant root‐rat individuals sampled from nine localities across its entire ~1000 km2 range. Our data revealed a distinct division into a northern and southern group, with no signs of gene flow, and higher nuclear genetic diversity in the south. Landscape genetic analyses of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes indicated that population subdivision was driven by slope and elevation differences of up to 500 m across escarpments separating the north and south, potentially reinforced by glaciation of the south during the Late Pleistocene (~42,000–16,000 years ago). Despite this landscape‐scale subdivision between the north and south, weak geographic structuring of sampling localities within regions indicated gene flow across distances of at least 16 km at the local scale, suggesting high, aboveground mobility for relatively long distances. Our study highlights that despite the potential for local‐scale gene flow in fossorial species, topographic barriers can result in pronounced genetic subdivision. These factors can reduce genetic variability, which should be considered when developing conservation strategies.