Discussion
Extrapolating genotype-environment association analyses to all possible
combinations of alleles at a few outlier loci (i.e. supposed to be
locally adaptive) allowed us to explore how much environmental diversity
could be exploited by a given amount of genetic variation. This, in
turn, revealed an adaptability threshold that might be ultimately
defining the distribution boundaries of P. algirus . Thus, our
successful inference of a species’ range (77.46% of the actual species’
range) from the geographical distribution of a few adaptive loci (N=4)
uncovered the role of genotypic inter-individual variation in shaping a
species’ distribution range. Our approach should therefore provide
compelling evidence of how the genetic dynamics of local adaptation
underlie distribution patterns.