Spatially-explicit individual-based simulation models provide a valuable tool for exploring complex ecological and evolutionary processes that are not easily empirically measured. Here, we present modifications of a spatially-explicit individual-based simulation model (CDMetaPOP) to accommodate a two-species system and simulations involving interspecific hybridization. We first describe how a hybrid (H) index is used to distinguish individuals of interspecific descent from those of either parental species. User-defined thresholds provide flexibility in the degree of admixture tolerated for classifying 'pure' individuals. We then detail relationships further informed by the H index, including individual growth, temperature-based fitness and selection, and mate preference behavior. Empirically derived species- and system-specific information can be incorporated into these relationships, for example, to produce differential growth among hybrids and parental species. Lastly, we demonstrate an application of this simulation framework by exploring the relative effects of temperature-based selection, mate preference behavior, and hybrid fitness on the rate and spatial extent of sympatric hybridization between two native riverine fish species, bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), in the upper Skagit River system (United States and Canada). Results from this demonstration provide guidance for future empirical studies of bull trout, a federally threatened species. Understanding factors that contribute to the initiation and maintenance of hybridization, as well as the ecological and evolutionary consequences of this phenomenon, is of increasing importance given shifting species ranges due to large-scale landscape modification and a changing global climate. Our framework can be used to study a wide range of hybridization dynamics in any terrestrial or aquatic system, including comparisons of distinct environmental conditions or potential management responses.
1.Univ Connecticut, Dept Nat Resources & Environm, Wildlife & Fisheries Conservat Ctr, 1376 Storrs Rd,Unit 4087, Storrs, CT 06279 USA 2.Coll William & Mary, Virginia Inst Marine Sci, Dept Fisheries Sci, 1375 Greate Rd, Gloucester Point, VA 23062 USA 3.Univ Georgia, Daniel B Wamell Sch Forestry & Nat Resources, 180 East Green St, Athens, GA 30602 USA 4.Eastern Washington Univ, Dept Biol, 258 Sci Bldg, Chency, WA 99004 USA 5.Univ Toronto, Dept Anthropol, 27 Kings Coll Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 3G5, Canada 6.No Arizona Univ, Dept Biol Sci, S San Francisco St, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 USA 7.Nat Resources Canada, Atlantic Forestry Ctr, Canadian Forest Serv, 1350 Regent St, Fredericton, NB E3B 5P7, Canada 8.Univ Idaho, Dept Fish & Wildlife Sci, 875 Perimeter Dr, Moscow, ID 83844 USA 9.Seattle City Light, Environm Lands & Licensing Business Unit, 700 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98124 USA 10.Univ Toronto, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary Biol, 25 Willcocks St, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada 11.Univ Montana, Sch Publ & Community Hlth Sci, 32 Campus Dr, Missoula, MT 59812 USA 12.Michigan Dept Nat Resources, Fisheries Div, 525 W Allegan St, Lansing, MI 48909 USA 13.Michigan State Univ, Dept Integrat Biol, 288 Farm Lane, E Lansing, MI 48823 USA 14.Univ Oxford, Dept Plant Sci, South Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3RB, England 15.Phylos Biosci, Res & Dev, 959 SE Div St, Portland, OR 97214 USA
Recommended Citation:
Nathan, Lucas R.,Mamoozadeh, Nadya,Tumas, Hayley R.,et al. A spatially-explicit, individual-based demogenetic simulation framework for evaluating hybridization dynamics[J]. ECOLOGICAL MODELLING,2019-01-01,401:40-51