Behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary process shape the spatial distribution of genetic diversity. Variation in behavioral and life history traits may have important consequences for the structuring of genetic variation across landscape. Assessments of genetic parameters can help identify populations, prioritize areas for conservation, identify barriers and corridors to movement, thereby informing management actions. The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an upland game bird native to North America that has experienced declines throughout much of its range. Among some states, reintroduction efforts were carried out in the mid-1900s to bolster remanent or extirpated populations. Our research aims to evaluate the spatial arrangement of genetic diversity and identify features that may facilitate or impeded dispersal across the landscape. We collected reduced representation genomic sequence data (ddRAD) from wild turkeys sampled at 8 sites across North-west (NW) and South-west (SW) in Nebraska and 13 sites in across Eastern, Central and Western Kansas when birds are in winter flocks (Jan – Mar) on 338 individuals and isolated 5355 loci. We applied two complementary approaches with different underlying assumptions to evaluate spatial genetic structure: (1) principal components analysis (PCA, nonparametric method) and (2) fineRADstructure (shared co-ancestry). The patterns in genetic diversity were similar across analyses, individuals clustered into 4 groups based on geographic region with NW Nebraska, SW Nebraska, eastern Kansas and central and western Kansas. Within each region, subtle structure was detected based on co-ancestry analysis. We identified genetic structuring with limited gene flow between the NW and SW regions of Nebraska. We also uncovered evidence of gene flow between the SW region of Nebraska and the western and central sites in Kansas, suggesting greater connectivity between these populations. Spatial genetic structure detected among sample sites may be influenced by factors such as habitat continuity and dispersal behavior. The observed genetic differentiation is likely shaped, in part, by landscape features. These findings provide valuable insights into the population connectivity and genetic structure of wild turkeys in Nebraska and Kansas that benefited from translocation efforts, which can inform conservation and management strategies aimed at maintaining genetic diversity and connectivity across the landscape.

Bio sketch:
I am Deepika. Did my bachelors from India and masters from Auburn University. My masters program was on mollusks and arthropods and my thesis was focused to understand extinction risk in aquatic invertebrates using range size and genetic diversity. Now here for my PhD working on wild turkeys and in the final year of getting samples from field. My hobbies are hiking, bird watching and bird photography.