Fire Increases Genetic Diversity of Populations of Six-Lined Racerunner.

Wildfires are highly variable and can disturb habitats, leading to direct and indirect effects on the genetic characteristics of local populations. Florida scrub is a fire-dependent, highly fragmented, and severely threatened habitat. Understanding the effect of fire on genetic characteristics of the species that use this habitat is critically important.

Epigenetic response to environmental change: DNA methylation varies with invasion status.

Epigenetic mechanisms may be important for a native species' response to rapid environmental change. Red Imported Fire Ants ( Santschi, 1916) were recently introduced to areas occupied by the Eastern Fence Lizard ( Bosc & Daudin, 1801). Behavioral, morphological and physiological phenotypes of the Eastern Fence Lizard have changed following invasion, creating a natural biological system to investigate environmentally induced epigenetic changes.

Repeated Habitat Disturbances by Fire Decrease Local Effective Population Size.

Effective population size is a fundamental parameter in population genetics, and factors that alter effective population size will shape the genetic characteristics of populations. Habitat disturbance may have a large effect on genetic characteristics of populations by influencing immigration and gene flow, particularly in fragmented habitats. We used the Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) to investigate the effect of fire-based habitat disturbances on the effective population size in the highly threatened, severely fragmented, and fire dependent Florida scrub habitat.