Determinants of genetic diversity in sticklebacks

Understanding what determines species and population differences in levels of genetic diversity has important implications for our understanding of evolution, as well as for the conservation and management of wild populations. Previous comparative studies have emphasized the roles of linked selection, life-history trait variation and genomic properties, rather than pure demography, as important determinants of genetic diversity. However, these findings are based on coarse estimates across a range of highly diverged taxa, and it is unclear how well they represent the processes within individual species. We assessed genome-wide genetic diversity ( π ) in 45 nine-spined stickleback ( Pungitius pungitius ) populations and found that π varied 15-fold among populations ( π min ≈0.00015, π max ≈0.0023) whereas estimates of recent effective population sizes varied 122-fold. Analysis of inbreeding coefficients (F ROH ) estimated from runs of homozygosity revealed strong negative association between π and F ROH . Genetic diversity was also negatively correlated with mean body size and longevity, but these associations were not statistically significant after controlling for demographic effects (F ROH ). The results give strong support for the view that populations’ demographic features, rather than life history differences, are the chief determinants of genetic diversity in the wild.