Homalonychus theologus - Genetic divergence landscape, 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 reservoirs of genetic diversity. Results address research needs associated with future development, ecoregion planning and adaptive management.A genetic divergence landscape for each species was interpolated from point values using the genetic landscapes GIS toolbox and standardized between 0 and 1. 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.