Population Genomics Reveals Small‐Scale Metapopulation Structure of Two Strictly Aquatic Keystone Species in a Recently Restored Urban River System (Emscher, Germany) - Weiss - 2025 - Ecology and Evolution - Wiley Online Library

1 Introduction Habitat fragmentation caused by human activities leads to the interruption of gene flow between populations and will consequently modify population structure and genetic diversity (Horreo et al. 2011). This can be explained by the elevated effects of genetic drift and inbreeding in small, isolated populations, resulting in increased population differentiation and reduced genetic diversity (e.g., Bijlsma and Loeschcke 2012; Vrijenhoek 1998).