POPULATION STRUCTURE AND GENETIC VARIABILITY AMONG 44 HUTTERITE COLONIES (SCHMIEDENLEUT, AUTOCORRELATION, MANTEL CONGRUENCE)

This study examines the relationship between population structure and genetic variation in 44 communal groups of the Schmiedenleut, one of three major subdivisions of the Hutterite population. Four measures of population structure are defined in matrix form as migration, historic, kinship, and geographic distances. A fifth matrix measures pairwise genetic distance between colonies using Kurczynski's (1969) D('2) generalized distance. A nonparametric test of matrix congruence (Mantel 1967) is used to determine the correlation between every pair of population structure matrices, and between each population structure matrix and genetic distance. Associations are also assessed for clan divisions and geographic clusters within the leut. A second technique (Ord 1975) is used to determine the influence of each aspect of population structure on gene frequency correlations between colonies.;The results demonstrate that kinship, history, and migration are the most consistent measures of colony distance for the leut, within clans, and geographic clusters. Regional differences in population structure occur between Manitoba and South Dakota groups which indicate regional variation in social and genetic relationships between colonies. Finally, there is a notable lack of association between population structure characteristics and the genetic structure of this population. Disassociation between population structure and genetic variability cannot, in this case, be attributed to inadequate information about the population history. Other reasons for failure to relate genetic variability to population structure, and implications for similar studies are discussed.