Models based on individual level movement predict spatial patterns of genetic relatedness for two Australian forest birds

Fine-scale landscape change can alter dispersal patterns of animals, thus influencing connectivity or gene flow within a population. Furthermore, dispersal patterns of different species may be influenced by the landscape in varying ways. Our research first aimed to examine whether the spatial genetic structure within populations of closely related bird species differs in response to the same landscape. Second, we examined whether individual-level movement characteristics are a mechanistic driver of these differences. We generated a priori predictions of how landscape features will influence dispersal (particularly the response of individuals to habitat boundaries both natural and human-induced) based on a movement model developed by Fahrig (Funct Ecol 21:1003-1015, 2007). This model allowed us to predict genetic relatedness patterns in populations of two passerine bird species with different life-history traits from Queensland, Australia (yellow-throated scrubwren Sericornis citreogularis, a habitat specialist; white-browed scrubwren Sericornis frontalis, a habitat generalist). We quantified our predictions using cost-distance modelling and compared these to observed pairwise genetic distances (a (r) ) between individuals as calculated from microsatellite markers. Mantel tests showed that our a priori models correlated with genetic distance. Euclidean distance was most closely correlated to genetic distance for the generalist species (r = 0.093, P = 0.002), and landscape models that included the avoidance of unsuitable habitat were best for the specialist species (r = 0.107, P = 0.001). Our study showed that predictable movement characteristics may be the mechanism driving differences in genetic relatedness patterns within populations of different bird species.