Abstract
Roads and highways contribute enormously to habitat fragmentation, as they can inhibit or even block animal movement across them, which may result in the ultimate division of the populations into smaller isolated subpopulations. The isolation reduces gene flow and increases risk of extinction due to a decrease in the genetic diversity.
The aim of the study is to determine whether highways can cause genetic subdivision of the bank vole Myodes glareolus and yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis. The study was carried out at three sites in the Highway D1 (Prague-Brno) in the Czech Republic.
The genetic structure was determined from the analysis of 6 DNA microsatellites loci in M. glareolus and 5 in A. flavicollis. We found only weak genetic differences between populations living at opposite sides of the highway in either of the species and a low degree of subdivision, but significant positive correlation between genetic and geographical distance, which suggests isolation by distance in both species.