Continental scale genetic diversity supports geo-clustered ecoregions connectivity

Eastern and western ecoregions show a distinct genetic connectivity divide in benthic arthropods, roughly aligned with the Rocky Mountains, despite correlated structural and functional connectivity overall.

• Why it matters: Connectivity underpins ecosystem recovery after disturbance, but conservation needs ways to detect where gene flow is restricted across landscapes and timescales.
• What they did: The study compared structural connectivity (ecoregion adjacency) with functional connectivity using {beta}-diversity of exact sequence variants and species from DNA metabarcoding of benthic arthropods.
• The result: Structural and functional connectivity were correlated, yet in western ecoregions species {beta}-diversity was not correlated with adjacency and showed higher intraspecific genetic differentiation, implying more restricted gene flow there.

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