Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Notropis--Middle West--Geographical distribution; Academic theses;
Abstract
Periodic glacial cycles beginning 2.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago forced the repeated contraction, fragmentation, and expansion of the North American biota. In the upper Mississippi River basin three very different areas characterize the topography left by glaciations and still and influence the flora and fauna: Driftless Area, Paleozoic Plateau, and Iowan Surface. The Paleozoic Plateau is located in the northern part of the upper Mississippi River basin, and it is a unique geographical region situated in an area that straddles northeast Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin, and northwest Illinois. This region was bypassed by the last glacial maximum, the Wisconsinan approximately 30-13,000 YA. The lack of relatively recent glacial activity left very distinct geological formations intact, resulting in an area with a distinct topography. One organism that has a disjunct distribution between the northern Paleozoic Plateau and southern Ozark Plateau is the Ozark minnow, Notropis nubilus. The field of phylogeography provides a good framework to investigate the historical processes that lead to the disjunct distribution of Notropis nubulis. Analysis of genetic variation within the species, both mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cytb) gene sequence and microsatellite genotypes revealed three strongly supported clades: a clade from the western Ozarks, a clade from the Southern Ozarks, and a clade from the northern Ozarks and upper Mississippi river basin. Analysis of the data supported the hypothesis that the Ozark minnow was not able to survive in the Paleozoic Plateau and it migrated southward into an Ozarkian refugium during the greatest advances of ice sheets of the Pleistocene. After climate and habitat became more favorable populations expanded and migrated to habitats that more closely resemble their current ranges.
Year of Submission
2013
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Department of Biology
First Advisor
Peter Berendzen
Second Advisor
James W. Demastes
Third Advisor
James Walters
Date Original
2013
Object Description
1 PDF file (69 leaves)
Copyright
©2013 Jason F. Dugan
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Dugan, Jason F., "Phylogeography of Notropis nubilus (Ozark Minnow)" (2013). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2533.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2533
Comments
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