Whole-genome sequencing reveals persistence of forest-associated mammals
in Late Pleistocene refugia along North America's North Pacific Coast
Abstract
Shared phylogenetic breaks across taxa, syntopic clusters of endemics,
and paleogeographic reconstruction of isostatic and vegetation change
over time suggest the existence of one or more ice-free glacial refugia
off of North America’s North Pacific Coast. However, both an incomplete
fossil record and cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating create uncertainty
over whether hypothesized coastal refugia even existed. If refugia
existed, then identifying the persistent species is critical to
interpretation of the timing, duration, and
paleoenvironment-reconstructions. We use whole-genome resequencing to
assess the historical biogeography of these complex northern landscapes
that span multiple archipelagos and mountain ranges. Unanticipated
discovery of genomically-distinct insular and continental clades within
forest-associated Pacific martens (M. caurina) is consistent with
morphometric and parasitological investigations, and also with the
Coastal Refugium Hypothesis. Our results support the persistence of
forested refugial communities along the western edges of the Alexander
Archipelago. We found no evidence of admixture on islands that received
historical translocations of American pine martens (M. americana), but
detected introgression in two zones of secondary contact: one insular,
one continental. Evidence of early-generational hybrids across multiple
hybrid zones, each backcrossed with M. americana, is consistent with a
history of genetic dilution of M. caurina through outbreeding. Into the
future, these hybrid zones will serve as instructive natural experiments
for forecasting outcomes of genetic management initiatives, such as
genetic rescue or restoration. Evidence of refugial divergence in a
forest-associated, medium-sized carnivore along the North Pacific Coast
suggests that genomic reevaluations may identify new perspectives on a
suite of forest-associated species and provide new insight into refugial
community composition.