These features could make troglophilic species more resistant to climate changes than surface species since they have the possibility to draw back into local retreats under unfavourable external conditions and wait for better climate while sheltered. However, some recent data started to overturn this view, especially for troglophilic animals that are able to exploit both subterranean and epigean habitats. Also, their strong association with underground retreats constrains their populations to low size and poor genetic diversity. Nonetheless, this does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.Ĭave species are considered particularly fragile and endangered due to their strict ecological requirements, making them poorly able to face climatic variation. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedĭata Availability: All relevant data are available within the paper and its Supporting Information files.įunding: The authors have no support or funding to report.Ĭompeting interests: Roberta Cimmaruta is an Academic Editor of PLOS ONE. Received: NovemAccepted: JPublished: June 24, 2015Ĭopyright: © 2015 Cimmaruta et al. PLoS ONE 10(6):Įditor: Gyaneshwer Chaubey, Estonian Biocentre, ESTONIA This signature was found in the populations from the Ligurian and Maritime Alps, in agreement with the complex orography and paleoclimatic history of this Mediterranean hotspot.Ĭitation: Cimmaruta R, Lucente D, Nascetti G (2015) Persistence, Isolation and Diversification of a Naturally Fragmented Species in Local Refugia: The Case of Hydromantes strinatii. Accordingly, high nucleotide and haplotype diversity, strong geographic genetic structuring and lack of expansion were evidenced. The troglophilic habit of this species provided the opportunity to show the importance of caves as local refugia in maintaining the genetic diversity through the persistence of local populations. This apparent incongruence highlighted the action of different mechanisms such as secondary contacts and incomplete lineage sorting in originating the observed genetic variation. Nuclear and mitochondrial markers substantially recovered the same population groups but were conflicting in reconstructing their relationships. Two highly divergent clades were identified in the eastern and central-western part of the range, with further geographic sub-structure. This was likely the outcome of different evolutionary mechanisms leaving their signature despite the effects of the genetic drift due to the low population size typical of this species. The study of the European plethodontid salamander Hydromantes strinatii using allozyme and mitochondrial markers showed a strong geographical genetic structure.
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