Conservation genomics of an endangered montane amphibian reveals low population structure, low genomic diversity and selection pressure from disease

摘要: Wildlife diseases are a major global threat to biodiversity. Boreal toads (Anaxyrus [Bufo] boreas) are a state‐endangered species in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico, and a species of concern in Wyoming, largely due to lethal skin infections caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). We performed conservation and landscape genomic analyses using single nucleotide polymorphisms from double‐digest, restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing in combination with the development of the first boreal toad (and first North American toad) reference genome to investigate population structure, genomic diversity, landscape connectivity and adaptive divergence. Genomic diversity (π = 0.00034–0.00040) and effective population sizes (Ne = 8.9–38.4) were low, likely due to post‐Pleistocene founder effects and Bd‐related population crashes over the last …