Find research datasets worth reusing

Data from: Contextualizing macroecological laws: A big data analysis on electrofishing and allometric scalings in Ohio, USA

We investigated the influence of different electrofishing methods on allometric scaling features of fish assemblages in lotic environments. The ultimate aim was to elucidate to which extent the structure of fish assemblages is predictable by the three-quarter power law theory. Water bodies across the state of Ohio, USA, provided a suitable data set to analyze the size–biomass spectra of 2051 fish assemblages. For the first time, 41,070 allometric field observations were screened according to sampling methods (i.e., longline, tote barge, boat) adopted for sampling collection. Allometric patterns varied considerably in relation with the sampling method, in turn imposed by the local hydrology and morphology of the investigated water courses, as shown by the lowering of scalings from boatable to wadeable systems. There are several lines of evidence indicating that the chosen type of electrofishing acts as a pitfall for size spectra. Using individually weighted body-mass values as independent predictor of spectra we show that the specific sampling methodology required by the physical characteristics of different lotic habitats influence the allometric outcomes, a novel result that makes universality of community power laws not as straightforward as supposed until now.

Data from: Metabarcoding for the parallel identification of several hundred predators and their preys: application to bat species diet analysis

Assessing diet variability is of main importance to better understand the biology of bats and design conservation strategies. Although the advent of metabarcoding has facilitated such analyses, this approach does not come without challenges. Biases may occur throughout the whole experiment, from fieldwork to biostatistics, resulting in the detection of false negatives, false positives or low taxonomic resolution. We detail a rigorous metabarcoding approach based on a short COI minibarcode and two-step PCR protocol enabling the 'all at once' taxonomic identification of bats and their arthropod preys for several hundreds of samples. Our study includes faecal pellets collected in France from 357 bats representing 16 species, as well as insect mock communities that mimic bat meals of known composition, negative and positive controls. All samples were analysed using three replicates. We compare the efficiency of DNA extraction methods and we evaluate the effectiveness of our protocol using identification success, taxonomic resolution, sensitivity, and amplification biases. Our parallel identification strategy of predators and preys reduces the risk of mis-assigning preys to wrong predators and decreases the number of molecular steps. Controls and replicates enable to filter the data and limit the risk of false positives, hence guaranteeing high confidence results for both prey occurrence and bat species identification. We validate 551 COI variants from arthropod including 18 orders, 117 family, 282 genus and 290 species. Our method therefore provides a rapid, resolutive and cost-effective screening tool for addressing evolutionary ecological issues or developing 'chirosurveillance' and conservation strategies.

Data from: Using sperm morphometry and multivariate analysis to differentiate species of gray Mazama

There is genetic evidence that the two species of Brazilian gray Mazama, Mazama gouazoubira and Mazama nemorivaga, belong to different genera. This study identified significant differences that separated them into distinct groups, based on characteristics of the spermatozoa and ejaculate of both species. The characteristics that most clearly differentiated between the species were ejaculate colour, white for M. gouazoubira and reddish for M. nemorivaga, and sperm head dimensions. Multivariate analysis of sperm head dimension and format data accurately discriminated three groups for species with total percentage of misclassified of 0.71. The individual analysis, by animal, and the multivariate analysis have also discriminated correctly all five animals (total percentage of misclassified of 13.95%), and the canonical plot has shown three different clusters: Cluster 1, including individuals of M. nemorivaga; Cluster 2, including two individuals of M. gouazoubira; and Cluster 3, including a single individual of M. gouazoubira. The results obtained in this work corroborate the hypothesis of the formation of new genera and species for gray Mazama. Moreover, the easily applied method described herein can be used as an auxiliary tool to identify sibling species of other taxonomic groups.

Data from: Quantifying the effects of ecological constraints on trait expression using novel trait-gradient analysis parameters

1. Complex processes related to biotic and abiotic forces can impose limitations to assembly and composition of plant communities. Quantifying the effects of these constraints on plant functional traits across environmental gradients, and among communities, remains challenging. We define ecological constraint (Ci) as the combined, limiting effect of biotic interactions and environmental filtering on trait expression (i.e., the mean value and range of functional traits). 2. Here we propose a set of novel parameters to quantify this constraint by extending the trait-gradient analysis (TGA) methodology. The key parameter is ecological constraint, which is dimensionless and can be measured at various scales, e.g., on population and community levels. It facilitates comparing the effects of ecological constraints on trait expressions across environmental gradients, as well as within and among communities. 3. We illustrate the implementation of the proposed parameters using the bark thickness of 14 woody species along an aridity gradient on granite outcrops in southwestern Australia. We found a positive correlation between increasing environmental stress and strength of ecological constraint on bark thickness expression. Also, plants from more stressful habitats (shrublands on shallow soils and in sun-exposed locations) displayed higher ecological constraint for bark thickness than plants in more benign habitats (woodlands on deep soils and in sheltered locations). 4. The relative ease of calculation and dimensionless nature of Ci allow it to be readily implemented at various scales and make it widely applicable. It therefore has the potential to advance the mechanistic understanding of the ecological processes shaping trait expression. Some future applications of the new parameters could be investigating the patterns of ecological constraints i) among communities from different regions, ii) on different traits across similar environmental gradients, and iii) for the same trait across different gradient-types.

Data from: Understanding the spatial scale of genetic connectivity at sea: unique insights from a land fish and a meta-analysis

Quantifying the spatial scale of population connectivity is important for understanding the evolutionary potential of ecologically divergent populations and for designing conservation strategies to preserve those populations. For marine organisms like fish, the spatial scale of connectivity is generally set by a pelagic larval phase. This has complicated past estimates of connectivity because detailed information on larval movements are difficult to obtain. Genetic approaches provide a tractable alternative and have the added benefit of estimating directly the reproductive isolation of populations. In this study, we leveraged empirical estimates of genetic differentiation among populations with simulations and a meta-analysis to provide a general estimate of the spatial scale of genetic connectivity in marine environments. We used neutral genetic markers to first quantify the genetic differentiation of ecologically-isolated adult populations of a land dwelling fish, the Pacific leaping blenny (Alticus arnoldorum), where marine larval dispersal is the only probable means of connectivity among populations. We then compared these estimates to simulations of a range of marine dispersal scenarios and to collated FST and distance data from the literature for marine fish across diverse spatial scales. We found genetic connectivity at sea was extensive among marine populations and in the case of A. arnoldorum, apparently little affected by the presence of ecological barriers. We estimated that ~5000 km (with broad confidence intervals ranging from 810 - 11,692 km) was the spatial scale at which evolutionarily meaningful barriers to gene flow start to occur at sea, although substantially shorter distances are also possible for some taxa. In general, however, such a large estimate of connectivity has important implications for the evolutionary and conservation potential of many marine fish communities.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Meta-analysis reveals lower genetic diversity in overfished populations

While population declines can drive the loss of genetic diversity under some circumstances, it has been unclear whether this loss is a general consequence of overharvest in highly abundant marine fishes. Here, we use a phylogenetic approach across 160 species and 11,658 loci to show that allelic richness was on average 11% lower (p < 0.0001) in overharvested populations, even after accounting for the effects of body size, latitude, and other factors. Heterozygosity was 2% lower (p = 0.030). Simulations confirmed that these patterns are consistent with a recent bottleneck in abundant species and also showed that our analysis likely underestimates the loss of rare alleles by a factor of two or three. This evidence suggests that overharvest drives the decay of genetic diversity across a wide range of marine fishes. Such reductions of genetic diversity in some of the world's most abundant species may lead to a long-term impact of fishing on their evolutionary potential, particularly if abundance remains low and diversity continues to decay.

opencc-zeroDec 2010View details →

Data from: Using time series analysis to characterize evolutionary and plastic responses to environmental change: a case study of a shift toward earlier migration date in sockeye salmon

Environmental change can shift the phenotype of an organism through either evolutionary or nongenetic processes. Despite abundant evidence of phenotypic change in response to recent climate change, we typically lack sufficient genetic data to identify the role of evolution. We present a method of using phenotypic data to characterize the hypothesized role of natural selection and environmentally driven phenotypic shifts (plasticity). We modeled historical selection and environmental predictors of interannual variation in mean population phenotype using a multivariate state-space model framework. Through model comparisons, we assessed the extent to which an estimated selection differential explained observed variation better than environmental factors alone. We applied the method to a 60-year trend toward earlier migration in Columbia River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, producing estimates of annual selection differentials, average realized heritability, and relative cumulative effects of selection and plasticity. We found that an evolutionary response to thermal selection was capable of explaining up to two-thirds of the phenotypic trend. Adaptive plastic responses to June river flow explain most of the remainder. This method is applicable to other populations with time series data if selection differentials are available or can be reconstructed. This method thus augments our toolbox for predicting responses to environmental change.

Data from: Global analysis reveals that cryptic diversity is linked with habitat but not mode of life

The ubiquity of genetically distinct, cryptic species is limiting any attempt to estimate local or global biodiversity as well as impeding efforts to conserve species or control pests and diseases. Environmental factors or biological traits promoting rapid diversification into morphologically similar species remain unclear. Here, using a meta-analysis of 1230 studies using DNA sequences to search for cryptic diversity in metazoan taxa, we test two hypotheses regarding the frequency of cryptic taxa based on mode of life and habitat. First, after correcting for study effort and accounting for higher taxonomic affinities and biogeographical region of origins, our results do not support the hypothesis that cryptic taxa are more frequent among parasitic than free-living taxa. Second, in contrast the results support the hypothesis that cryptic taxa are more common in certain habitats than others: for a given study effort, more cryptic taxa are found in freshwater than in terrestrial or marine taxa. These findings suggest that the greater heterogeneity and fragmentation of freshwater habitats may promote higher rates of genetic differentiation among its inhabitants, a general pattern with serious implications for freshwater conservation biology.

opencc-zeroFeb 2020View details →

Data from: Proteomic analysis of barley mapping population subjected to drought identifies proteins with genotype×environment interaction and pQTLs

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses negatively influencing crop yield and is a serious issue in modern agriculture. To achieve further substantial crop improvements in terms of drought resistance it is necessary to incorporate scientific results into breeding strategies. However, most of the data on plant drought responses arises mostly from small-scale studies and, therefore, its use in breeding programs is very limited. Here, we present the results of the large-scale proteomic analysis performed on barley recombinant inbred lines (RILs) and their parental genotypes subjected to drought, applied shortly before tillering. The conducted proteomic analyses enabled us to monitor drought-induced proteome changes in leaf and root tissue, and to identify proteins that responded to drought in a genotype-specific manner, for instance Rubisco activase, luminal binding protein, phosphoglycerate mutase, glutathione S-transferase, heat shock proteins as well as enzymes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. We also demonstrated feasibility of incorporating proteomic data resulting from large-scale study into genetic linkage analysis, which constitutes a fundament in biotechnology-driven breeding strategies.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: A study of applicability of SNP chips developed for bovine and ovine species to whole-genome analysis of reindeer Rangifer tarandus

Two sets of commercially available single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) developed for cattle (BovineSNP50 BeadChip) and sheep (OvineSNP50 BeadChip) have been trialed for whole-genome analysis of 4 female samples of Rangifer tarandus inhabiting Russia. We found out that 43.0% of bovine and 47.0% of Ovine SNPs could be genotyped, while only 5.3% and 2.03% of them were respectively polymorphic. The scored and the polymorphic SNPs were identified on each bovine and each ovine chromosome, but their distribution was not unique. The maximal value of runs of homozygosity (ROH) was 30.93Mb (for SNPs corresponding to bovine chromosome 8) and 80.32Mb (for SNPs corresponding to ovine chromosome 7). Thus, the SNP chips developed for bovine and ovine species can be used as a powerful tool for genome analysis in reindeer R. tarandus.

Data from: Is there a correlation between abundance and environmental suitability derived from ecological niche modelling? A meta-analysis

It is thought that species abundance is correlated with environmental suitability and that environmental variables, scale, and type of model fitting can confound this relationship. We performed a meta-analysis to (i) test whether species abundance is positively correlated with environmental suitability derived from correlative ecological niche models (ENM), (ii) test whether studies encompassing large areas within a species range (>50%) exhibited higher AS correlations than studies encompassing small areas within a species range (<50%), (iii) assess which modelling method provided higher AS correlation, and (iv) compare strength of the AS relationship between studies using only climatic variables and those that used both climatic and other environmental variables to derive suitability. We used correlation coefficients to measure the relationship between abundance and environmental suitability derived from ENM. Each correlation coefficient was considered an effect size in a random-effects multivariate meta-analysis. In all cases we found a significantly positive relationship between abundance and suitability. This relationship was consistent regardless of scale of study, ENM method, or set of variables used to derive suitability. There was no difference in strength of correlation between studies focusing on large or small areas within a species' range or among ENM methods. Studies using other variables in combination with climate exhibited higher AS correlations than studies using only climatic variables. We conclude that occurrence data can be a reasonable proxy for abundance, especially for vertebrates, and the use of local variables increases the strength of the AS relationship. Use of ENMs can significantly decrease survey costs and allow the study of large-scale abundance patterns using less information. Including only climatic variables in ENM may confound the relationship between abundance and suitability when compared to studies including variables taken locally. However, modelers and conservationists must be aware that high environmental suitability does not always indicate high abundance.

opencc-zeroSep 2019View details →

Data from: LiDAR and RGB-image analysis to predict hairy vetch biomass in breeding nurseries

Hairy vetch is a fall seeded annual legume that can be used as a forage and cover crop. As a cover crop, it can provide numerous ecosystem services, such as soil erosion reduction, carbon sequestration, and pollinator habitat, but also agronomic services such as weed suppression and N fixation via soil rhizobium species. To improve cover crop function, traits such as biomass production are especially relevant, making it a first priority trait for cover crop breeders. However, direct phenotypic methods for biomass production are destructive. Breeders have thus relied on subjective, visual scoring methods for biomass, which are generally correlative, but are not quantitative or absolute. In this study, we evaluated two low-cost remote sensing tools, LiDAR and RGB-image analysis, for their effectiveness at predicting biomass in vivo. We evaluated these tools in two common forage breeding scenarios, spaced-plant and sward-plot nurseries, at three Minnesota locations following the winter of 2016/2017. Ground cover, determined from RGB image binarization using the Canopeo application, had a significant and linear relationship with above-ground biomass in spaced-plants (R2=0.93), and sward-plots (R2=0.89). Once the image area became saturated with vegetative pixels, a near-exponential relationship with biomass would occur. Because of the low-growth habit of hairy vetch, RGB image analysis was more appropriate at lower plant densities, such as spaced-plant nurseries. LiDAR measures of sward-plot height were also linearly and strongly related to dry-matter biomass in sward-plots (R2=0.80). The dimensionality of LiDAR sensing gave it greater predictive ability at higher plant densities, where RGB analysis could not detect vertical increases in biomass production. Lastly, we combined RGB and LiDAR data to predict sward-plot biomass in a multiple mixed-effect regression model. By doing so, we were able to explain more biomass variation than with use of either phenotypic tool as a single predictor (R2=0.94).

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Intragenomic ITS2 variation in a genus of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): implications for accurate species delimitation and phylogenetic analysis

A recent DNA barcoding study of Australian microgastrines (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) sought to use next generation sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) barcoding gene region, the wingless (WG) gene and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) to delimit molecular species in a highly diverse group of parasitic wasps. Large intragenomic distances between ITS2 variants, often larger than the average interspecific variation, caused difficulties in using ITS2 for species delimitation in both threshold and tree‐based approaches, and the gene was not included in the reported results of the previous DNA barcoding study. We here report on the intragenomic, and the intra‐ and interspecies, variation in ITS2 in the microgastrine genus Diolcogaster to further investigate the value of ITS2 as a marker for species delimitation and phylogenetics of the Microgastrinae. Distinctive intragenomic variant patterns were found in different species of Diolcogaster, with some species possessing a single major variant, and others possessing many divergent variants. Characterising intragenomic variation of ITS2 is critical as it is a widely used marker in hymenopteran phylogenetics and species delimitation, and large intragenomic distances such as those found in this study may obscure phylogenetic signal.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Estimating population size in the presence of temporary migration using a joint analysis of telemetry and capture recapture data

1.Temporary migration – where individuals can leave and re-enter a sampled population – is a feature of many capture–mark–recapture (CMR) studies of mobile populations which, if unaccounted for, can lead to biased estimates of population capture probabilities and consequently biased estimates of population abundance. 2. We present a method for incorporating radiotelemetry data within a CMR study to eliminate bias due to temporary migration using a Bayesian state-space model. 3. Our results indicate that using a relatively small number of telemetry tags, it is possible to greatly reduce bias in estimates of capture probabilities using telemetry data to model transition probabilities in and out of the sampling area. In a capture–recapture data set for trout Cod in the Murray river, Australia, accounting for temporary migration led to overall higher estimates of capture probabilities than models assuming permanent or zero migration. Also, individual heterogeneity in detectability can be managed through explicit modelling. We show how accounting for temporary migration when estimating capture probabilities can be used to estimate the abundance and size distribution of a population as though it were closed. 4. Our model provides a basis for more complex models that might integrate telemetry data into other CMR scenarios, thus allowing for greater precision in estimates of vital rates that might otherwise be biased by temporary migration. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for migration in survey design and parameter estimation, and the potential scope for supplementing large-scale CMR data sets with a subset of auxiliary data that provide information on processes that are hidden to primary sampling processes.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Integrated network analysis identifies fight-club nodes as a class of hubs encompassing key putative switch genes that induce major transcriptome reprogramming during grapevine development

We developed an approach that integrates different network-based methods to analyze the correlation network arising from large-scale gene expression data. By studying grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) gene expression atlases and a grapevine berry transcriptomic data set during the transition from immature to mature growth, we identified a category named "fight-club hubs" characterized by a marked negative correlation with the expression profiles of neighboring genes in the network. A special subset named "switch genes" was identified, with the additional property of many significant negative correlations outside their own group in the network. Switch genes are involved in multiple processes and include transcription factors that may be considered master regulators of the previously reported transcriptome remodeling that marks the developmental shift from immature to mature growth. All switch genes, expressed at low levels in vegetative/green tissues, showed a significant increase in mature/woody organs, suggesting a potential regulatory role during the developmental transition. Finally, our analysis of tomato gene expression data sets showed that wild-type switch genes are downregulated in ripening-deficient mutants. The identification of known master regulators of tomato fruit maturation suggests our method is suitable for the detection of key regulators of organ development in different fleshy fruit crops.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Morphometric analysis and taxonomic revision of Anisopteromalus Ruschka (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) – an integrative approach

We use an integrative taxonomic approach to revise the genus Anisopteromalus. In particular, we apply multivariate ratio analysis (MRA), a rather new statistical method based on principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), to numerous body measurements and combine the data with those from our molecular analysis of Cytb and ITS2 genetic markers (on a subset of species) and all available published data on morphology, karyology, behavior, host associations, and geographic distribution. We demonstrate that the analysis of quantitative characters using MRA plays a major role for the integration of name-bearing types and thus for the association of taxa with names. Six species are recognized, of which two are new: A. cornis Baur sp. n. and A. quinarius Gokhman & Baur sp. n. For Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard), a well-known, cosmopolitan parasitoid of stored-product pests, we have selected a neotype to foster continuity and stability in the application of this important name. The species was sometimes confused with the related A. quinarius sp. n., another cosmopolitan species that is frequently encountered in similar environments. We also show that several species originally described or later put under Anisopteromalus actually belong to different genera: Cyrtoptyx camerunus (Risbec) comb. n.; Meraporus glaber (Szelényi) comb. n.; Dinarmus schwenkei (Roomi, Khan & Khan) comb. n. Neocatolaccus indicus Ayyar & Mani is confirmed as a junior synonym of Oxysychus sphenopterae (Ferrière) syn. n. and Anisopteromalus calandrae brasiliensis (Domenichini) stat. rev. must be considered as a valid but doubtful taxon.

Data from: Phylogenomic analysis of a rapid radiation of misfit fishes (Syngnathiformes) using ultraconserved elements

Phylogenetics is undergoing a revolution as large-scale molecular datasets reveal unexpected but repeatable rearrangements of clades that were previously thought to be disparate lineages. One of the most unusual clades of fishes that has been found using large-scale molecular datasets is an expanded Syngnathiformes including traditional long-snouted syngnathiform lineages (Aulostomidae, Centriscidae, Fistulariidae, Solenostomidae, Syngnathidae), as well as a diverse set of largely benthic-associated fishes (Callionymoidei, Dactylopteridae, Mullidae, Pegasidae) that were previously dispersed across three orders. The monophyly of this surprising clade of fishes has been upheld by recent studies utilizing both nuclear and mitogenomic data, but the relationships among major lineages within Syngnathiformes remain ambiguous; previous analyses have inconsistent topologies and are plagued by low support at deep divergences between the major lineages. In this study, we use a dataset of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to conduct the first phylogenomic study of Syngnathiformes. UCEs have been effective markers for resolving deep phylogenetic relationships in fishes and, combined with increased taxon sampling, we expected UCEs to resolve problematic syngnathiform relationships. Overall, UCEs were effective at resolving relationships within Syngnathiformes at a range of evolutionary timescales. We find consistent support for the monophyly of traditional long-snouted syngnathiform lineages (Aulostomidae, Centriscidae, Fistulariidae, Solenostomidae, Syngnathidae), which better agrees with morphological hypotheses than previously published topologies from molecular data. This result was supported by all Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses, was robust to differences in matrix completeness and potential sources of bias, and was highly supported in coalescent-based analyses in ASTRAL when matrices were filtered to contain the most phylogenetically informative loci. While Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses found support for a benthic-associated clade (Callionymidae, Dactylopteridae, Mullidae, and Pegasidae) as sister to the long-snouted clade, this result was not replicated in the ASTRAL analyses. The base of our phylogeny is characterized by short internodes separating major syngnathiform lineages and is consistent with the hypothesis of an ancient rapid radiation at the base of Syngnathiformes. Syngnathiformes therefore present an exciting opportunity to study patterns of morphological variation and functional innovation arising from rapid but ancient radiation.

Data from: Comparative analysis of DNA extraction methods to study the body surface microbiota of insects: a case study with ant cuticular bacteria

High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene has considerably helped revealing the essential role of bacteria living on insect cuticles in the ecophysiology and behavior of their hosts. However, our understanding of host-cuticular microbiota feedbacks remains hampered by the difficulties to working with low bacterial DNA quantities as in individual insect cuticle samples, which are more prone to molecular biases and contaminations. Herein, we conducted a methodological benchmark on the cuticular bacterial loads retrieved from two Neotropical ant species of different body size and ecology: Atta cephalotes (~15 mm) and Pseudomyrmex penetrator (~5 mm). We evaluated the richness and composition of the cuticular microbiota, as well as the amount of biases and contamination produced by four DNA extraction protocols. We also addressed how bacterial communities' characteristics would be affected by the number of individuals or individual body size used for DNA extraction. Most extraction methods yielded similar results in term of bacterial diversity and composition for A. cephalotes (~15 mm). In contrast, greater amounts of artifactual sequences and contaminations, as well as noticeable differences in bacterial communities' characteristics were observed between the extraction methods for P. penetrator (~5 mm). We also found that large (~15 mm) and small (~5 mm) A. cephalotes individuals harbor different bacterial communities. Our benchmark hence suggests that cuticular microbiota of single insect individuals can be reliably retrieved provided that blank controls, appropriate data cleaning, and standardization of individual body size are considered in the experiment.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Analysis of microsatellite loci in tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle) using SSR-GBS

Microsatellite markers are still the marker of choice for many research questions in the field of forest genetics. However, the number of available markers is often low for species that have not been studied intensively like the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). During the last decade, next generation sequencing (NGS) has offered advanced techniques for efficiently identifying microsatellite markers and accurately genotyping samples. Here, we identify new microsatellite markers for the tree of heaven by applying an NGS-based method using the Illumina MiSeq platform. NGS technology was proved to be an effective method for fast and cost-efficient identification of microsatellite markers by implementing a genotyping-by-sequencing approach based on Illumina amplicon sequencing (SSR-GBS). We screened three populations from Eastern Austria for genetic variation at 19 newly identified microsatellite loci. We tested two different genotyping approaches: (1) considering only allele lengths (forming a so-called 'allele length dataset'), (2) taking also single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the amplified fragments into account (forming a so-called 'SNP dataset'). The results revealed higher values for all genetic diversity parameters, as well as a better resolution of genetic assignment, when the latter approach was followed. Thus, by taking advantage of sequence information which is provided by SSR-GBS, one may achieve considerable gains in performance using the same marker set. The developed markers provide a cost-efficient tool for genotyping populations of tree of heaven and the approach presented here promises to be of high value for medium throughput genotyping applications in non-model forest tree species. We will use this method to widen the perspectives for further population genetic investigations of the tree of heaven.