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Gene Flow And Genetic Structure Of Two Of Arkansas’S Rarest Darter Species (Teleostei: Percidae), The Arkansas Darter, Etheostoma Cragini, And The Least Darter, E. Microperca, Justin Baker, Brian Wagner, Robert Wood

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Distinguishing the effects of naturally caused historical fragmentation from those of contemporary landscape modification is critically important to understanding the consequences of human influences on patterns of gene flow and population dynamics. Nonetheless, relatively few recent studies focusing on this issue have dealt with species that showed evidence of historical fragmentation. In the current study, we disentangled the effects of fragmentation operating over separate timescales on two darter species, Etheostoma cragini and E. microperca, from the Ozark Highlands. Formerly more wide-spread within this region in Arkansas, these species now occur only in highly isolated habitats (i.e., spring-runs). …