Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Landscape Ecology And Population Genomics Of Two Sympatric Pitviper Species Across A Fragmented Appalachian Landscape, Thomas Maigret

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Understanding the link between landscape patterns and ecological and evolutionary processes is an important prerequisite for informed wildlife conservation and management, especially in rapidly changing landscapes. Until recently, the inaccessibility of spatial and genomic data sets of sufficient resolution limited our ability to incorporate the impacts of landscape patterns into predictions of ecological and environmental outcomes. In this dissertation, I utilized several high-resolution spatial and genomic data sets to address ecological questions in a rapidly fragmenting landscape in southeastern Kentucky. Overall, my results indicate that large-scale surface coal mining is causing widespread homogenization of landforms, resulting in a uniquely permanent …