These data represent a digital map of the average diversity genetic landscape for 10 species: Anaxyrus punctatus, Chionactis occipitalis, Chaetodipus penicillatus, Crotophytus bicinctores, Crotalus cerastes, Homalonychus selenopoides, Homalonychus theologus, Lichanura trivirgata, Sceloporus magister, and Xantusia vigilis in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts.
Utility scale renewable energy development projects are currently
proposed across the deserts of the Southwestern United States. Agencies
that manage biological resources must understand the potential impacts
of these projects and infrastructure (e.g., transmission corridors,
substations, access roads, etc.) in order to select appropriate
development sites and to mitigate for anticipated effects. Of major
concern is determining how future development will impact wildlife
movement and genetic exchange among core protected areas and whether
increased fragmentation will impact species' abilities to adapt to
changing environmental conditions. The adaptive and evolutionary
potential of a species is ultimately dependent upon the amount and
distribution of genetic variation. We analyzed genetic data from a
variety of animal species distributed across the desert southwest to map
regions of high genetic diversity and divergence. These genetic
landscapes can be analyzed with respect to current and proposed
development footprints to assess the potential impacts of development
scenarios no resevoirs of genetic diversity. Results address research
needs associated wiht future development, ecoregion planning and
adaptive management.Genetic divergence landscapes for each species were
interpolated from point values using the genetic landscapes GIS toolbox,
standardized between 0 and 1 and averaged across species. High values
indicate higher average genetic divergence and low values indicate lower
genetic divergence. Dataset shows genetic divergence across areal
extent as a series of one kilometer grids with pixel values representing
a standardized divergence value expressed lowest to highest ranging
from 0 to 1.