DOI: 10.5061/dryad.sqv9s4ng5
title: Small snakes, big cities: Population genetics of urban Dekay's brown snake (Storeria dekayi) in New Jersey

description: Despite the unprecedented rate of global urbanization, a diverse array of
 taxa are supported in urban areas. However, the long-term persistence of
 urban wildlife cannot be guaranteed due to the various adverse effects
 that come with urbanization, such as resource depletion and reduced gene
 flow. Accordingly, it is imperative to evaluate the health and viability
 of urban wildlife, particularly of species that are underrepresented in
 the existing literature, like herpetofauna. Genomic techniques can provide
 critical insights into urban wildlife health and population viability.
 Here, we generated a ddRADseq dataset of 162 Dekay’s brown snakes
 (Storeria dekayi) among 11 locations with different urbanization
 magnitudes across New Jersey, USA, and examined the population genetic
 patterns of this common urban reptile. While genetic diversity was not
 severely reduced within those populations, we uncovered the presence of
 genetic differentiation and structuring across them, especially for those
 from the most urbanized areas. Deviations of interpopulation structure
 from their geographic distributions might reflect either habitat
 alteration or human intervention in recent history. Landscape genetic
 analyses revealed the presence of an isolation-by-distance relationship
 that was only significant within a short spatial distance of 1,500 m. Most
 urban populations also displayed lower-than-expected historic migration
 and diversity rates, but some remained genetically connected and diverse.
 To conclude, our study can serve as a useful guide for population genomic
 studies on urban herpetofauna. Based on our results, urbanization is
 likely to impact interpopulation genetic connectivity, but to have limited
 effects on intrapopulation genetic diversity of small-bodied, terrestrial
 urban dwellers.
description: # Small snakes, big cities: Population genetics of urban Dekay’s brown
 snake (Storeria dekayi) in New Jersey Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.sqv9s4ng5](10.5061/dryad.sqv9s4ng5) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This dataset includes the raw genomic data
 required to replicate analyses in "Small snakes, big cities:
 population genetics of urban Dekay’s brown snake (*Storeria dekayi*) in
 New Jersey" by Huang et al. ### Files and variables #### File:
 Sample_information.csv **Description:** Information of individual samples
 in the FastQ files. Header descriptions: *Barcode and Cutsite Overhang
 Sequence* - barcodes used to demultiplex RADseq data; *Sample Label in
 Article* - sample labels if mentioned in the article, could be either
 field number or museum number;  *Field Number* - temporary field numbers
 of samples (*N/A* if not available); *Museum Number* - permanent museum
 numbers of samples; *Species* - species identities; *Location* -
 collecting localities; *Latitude/Longitude* - decimal coordinates of
 locality data; *Notes* - additional notes. Note: variables all *N/A* to
 two controls (*Sample Label in Article* as *FGXCONTROLS*) as they are not
 applicable to them. #### File: plate1.fastq.gz **Description:** Raw data
 in FastQ format (first part) #### File: plate2.fastq.gz
 **Description:** Raw data in FastQ format (second part)