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Microsatellite data, boundaries of subpopulation centers, and estimated effective migration for greater sage-grouse collected in western North America between 1992 and 2015

Metadata Updated: December 11, 2025

Characterizing genetic structure across a species’ range is relevant for management and conservation as it can be used to define population boundaries and quantify connectivity. Here, we characterized population structure and estimated effective migration in Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Our objectives were to (1) describe large-scale patterns of population genetic structure and gene flow and (2) to characterize genetic subpopulation centers across the range of Greater Sage-grouse. Samples from 2,134 individuals were genotyped at 15 microsatellite loci. Using standard STRUCTURE and spatial principal components analyses, we found evidence for four or six areas of large-scale genetic differentiation and, following our novel method, 12 subpopulation centers of differentiation. The subpopulation centers defined here could be monitored to maintain genetic diversity and connectivity with other subpopulation centers. Many areas outside subpopulation centers are contact zones where different genetic groups converge and could be priorities for maintaining overall connectivity. Our novel method and process of leveraging multiple different analyses to find common genetic patterns provides a path forward to characterizing genetic structure in wide-ranging, continuously distributed species. The files associated with this data release include the raw genetic data (both a full data set and one thinned to create even sampling distribution), the estimated effective migration surface, and boundaries of subpopulation centers at K=6 from a Structure analysis using 25, 50, and 75% kernel density estimates to determine genetically distinct groups.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date December 11, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 14, 2025
Metadata Updated Date December 11, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-61c2427bd34e2ca389d9e7cd
Data Last Modified 2022-12-29T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id cf885a54-a5d8-4971-8488-a416238d763b
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash e0855b81fa553675da9c057e401c19279c171c8c259364ed1d9bb583771afdcb
Source Schema Version 1.1

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