Population Genetics of the Copperhead at Its Most Northeastern Distribution

Population genetic data are an important standard with which to gauge demography and gene flow within and among biodiversity units, and are often gathered on species of conservation concern. Yet an exclusive focus on ‘conservation immediacy' can also have negative consequences. For example, it can shift monitoring efforts away from more abundant and/or widely distributed clades and, by so doing, promote a more myopic approach to conservation and management. A current example concerns North American pitvipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae), within which listed species of Crotalus and Sistrurus receive considerable population genetic attention whereas broadly distributed Agkistrodon is largely overlooked. To address this disparity, we used 22 polymorphic tetra-nucleotide microsatellite loci to explore genetic structure, diversity, and relatedness in a Connecticut population of Copperhead (A. contortrix). Three admixed genetic clusters were identified across five winter dens, with overall and sex-specific relatedne...