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Carrión PL, Raeymaekers JAM, De León LF, Chaves JA, Sharpe DMT, Huber SK, Herrel A, Vanhooydonck B, Gotanda KM, Koop JAH, Knutie SA, Clayton DH, Podos J, Hendry AP. The terroir of the finch: How spatial and temporal variation shapes phenotypic traits in DARWIN'S finches. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9399. [PMID: 36225827 PMCID: PMC9534727 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The term terroir is used in viticulture to emphasize how the biotic and abiotic characteristics of a local site influence grape physiology and thus the properties of wine. In ecology and evolution, such terroir (i.e., the effect of space or “site”) is expected to play an important role in shaping phenotypic traits. Just how important is the pure spatial effect of terroir (e.g., differences between sites that persist across years) in comparison to temporal variation (e.g., differences between years that persist across sites), and the interaction between space and time (e.g., differences between sites change across years)? We answer this question by analyzing beak and body traits of 4388 medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) collected across 10 years at three locations in Galápagos. Analyses of variance indicated that phenotypic variation was mostly explained by site for beak size (η2 = 0.42) and body size (η2 = 0.43), with a smaller contribution for beak shape (η2 = 0.05) and body shape (η2 = 0.12), but still higher compared to year and site‐by‐year effects. As such, the effect of terroir seems to be very strong in Darwin's finches, notwithstanding the oft‐emphasized interannual variation. However, these results changed dramatically when we excluded data from Daphne Major, indicating that the strong effect of terroir was mostly driven by that particular population. These phenotypic results were largely paralleled in analyses of environmental variables (rainfall and vegetation indices) expected to shape terroir in this system. These findings affirm the evolutionary importance of terroir, while also revealing its dependence on other factors, such as geographical isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola L. Carrión
- Redpath Museum, Department of BiologyMcGill UniversityMontréalQuébecCanada
| | | | - Luis Fernando De León
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts BostonBostonMassachusettsUSA,Centro de Biodiversidad y Descubrimiento de DrogasInstituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT‐AIP)PanamáRepública de Panamá,Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamáRepública de Panamá
| | - Jaime A. Chaves
- Department of BiologySan Francisco State UniversitySan FranciscoCaliforniaUSA,Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y AmbientalesUniversidad San Francisco de QuitoQuitoEcuador
| | - Diana M. T. Sharpe
- Smithsonian Tropical Research InstitutePanamáRepública de Panamá,Worcester State UniversityWorcesterMassachusettsUSA
| | - Sarah K. Huber
- Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceCollege of William & MaryGloucester PointVirginiaUSA
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Muséum National d'Histoire NaturelleDépartement Adaptations du VivantBâtiment d'Anatomie ComparéeParisFrance
| | | | - Kiyoko M. Gotanda
- Department of Biological SciencesBrock UniversitySt. CatharinesOntarioCanada,Departement de BiologieUniversite de SherbrookeQuebecCanada
| | - Jennifer A. H. Koop
- Department of Biological SciencesNorthern Illinois UniversityDeKalbIllinoisUSA
| | - Sarah A. Knutie
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsConnecticutUSA,Institute for Systems GenomicsUniversity of ConnecticutStorrsConnecticutUSA
| | - Dale H. Clayton
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of UtahSalt Lake CityUtahUSA
| | - Jeffrey Podos
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstAmherstMassachusettsUSA
| | - Andrew P. Hendry
- Redpath Museum, Department of BiologyMcGill UniversityMontréalQuébecCanada
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Boom MP, van der Jeugd HP, Steffani B, Nolet BA, Larsson K, Eichhorn G. Postnatal growth rate varies with latitude in range-expanding geese: The role of plasticity and day length. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:417-427. [PMID: 34807466 PMCID: PMC9300058 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The postnatal growth period is a crucial life stage, with potential lifelong effects on an animal's fitness. How fast animals grow depends on their life-history strategy and rearing environment, and interspecific comparisons generally show higher growth rates at higher latitudes. However, to elucidate the mechanisms behind this gradient in growth rate, intraspecific comparisons are needed. Recently, barnacle geese expanded their Arctic breeding range from the Russian Barents Sea coast southwards, and now also breed along the Baltic and North Sea coasts. Baltic breeders shortened their migration, while barnacle geese breeding along the North Sea stopped migrating entirely. We collected cross-sectional data on gosling tarsus length, head length and body mass, and constructed population-specific growth curves to compare growth rates among three populations (Barents Sea, Baltic Sea and North Sea) spanning 17° in latitude. Growth rate was faster at higher latitudes, and the gradient resembled the latitudinal gradient previously observed in an interspecific comparison of precocial species. Differences in day length among the three breeding regions could largely explain the observed differences in growth rate. In the Baltic, and especially in the Arctic population, growth rate was slower later in the season, most likely because of the stronger seasonal decline in food quality. Our results suggest that differences in postnatal growth rate between the Arctic and temperate populations are mainly a plastic response to local environmental conditions. This plasticity can increase the individuals' ability to cope with annual variation in local conditions, but can also increase the potential to re-distribute and adapt to new breeding environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiel P Boom
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Henk P van der Jeugd
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Boas Steffani
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bart A Nolet
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Theoretical and Computational Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Kjell Larsson
- Kalmar Maritime Academy, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Götz Eichhorn
- Vogeltrekstation-Dutch Centre for Avian Migration and Demography (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
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3
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Abstract
Many species of plants, animals, and microorganisms exchange genes well after the point of evolutionary divergence at which taxonomists recognize them as species. Genomes contain signatures of past gene exchange and, in some cases, they reveal a legacy of lineages that no longer exist. But genomic data are not available for many organisms, and particularly problematic for reconstructing and interpreting evolutionary history are communities that have been depleted by extinctions. For these, morphology may substitute for genes, as exemplified by the history of Darwin's finches on the Galápagos islands of Floreana and San Cristóbal. Darwin and companions collected seven specimens of a uniquely large form of Geospiza magnirostris in 1835. The populations became extinct in the next few decades, partly due to destruction of Opuntia cactus by introduced goats, whereas Geospiza fortis has persisted to the present. We used measurements of large samples of G. fortis collected for museums in the period 1891 to 1906 to test for unusually large variances and skewed distributions of beak and body size resulting from introgression. We found strong evidence of hybridization on Floreana but not on San Cristóbal. The skew is in the direction of the absent G. magnirostris We estimate introgression influenced 6% of the frequency distribution that was eroded by selection after G. magnirostris became extinct on these islands. The genetic residuum of an extinct species in an extant one has implications for its future evolution, as well as for a conservation program of reintroductions in extinction-depleted communities.
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Colombelli‐Négrel D, Kleindorfer S. Behavioural response to songs between genetically diverged allopatric populations of Darwin's small tree finch in the Galápagos. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:816-829. [PMID: 33714212 PMCID: PMC8251970 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Empirical data that identify contemporary mechanisms of divergence shed light on how species could multiply. In this study, we measured population genetic structure, song syllable diversity and response to simulated intruder song in Darwin's small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus) on Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands, Galápagos archipelago. Our aim was to test whether the magnitude of contemporary behavioural response in resident birds was consistent with patterns of genetic or cultural differences between populations. We analysed genetic structure and the occurrence of song syllable types, and experimentally measured the response of resident birds to intruder bird song from different geographical origin (i.e., island) or syllable type. We discovered a weak signal of population genetic structure between Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands. Although some song syllables occurred on both islands, others were unique to each island; Santa Cruz Island males used more unique syllables than Floreana Island males. Both Santa Cruz and Floreana resident males discriminated their response towards a simulated intruder song based on the geographical origin of the intruder song, but not on the syllable type sung by the intruder. We conclude that the populations are diverging in genetic and cultural traits and identified a signal of contemporary behavioural response that could maintain divergence upon secondary contact.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sonia Kleindorfer
- College of Science and EngineeringFlinders UniversityAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
- Konrad Lorenz Research Centre for Behaviour and CognitionDepartment of Behavioural and Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
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5
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Sendell-Price AT, Ruegg KC, Clegg SM. Rapid morphological divergence following a human-mediated introduction: the role of drift and directional selection. Heredity (Edinb) 2020; 124:535-549. [PMID: 32080374 PMCID: PMC7080774 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-020-0298-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Theory predicts that when populations are established by few individuals, random founder effects can facilitate rapid phenotypic divergence even in the absence of selective processes. However, empirical evidence from historically documented colonisations suggest that, in most cases, drift alone is not sufficient to explain the rate of morphological divergence. Here, using the human-mediated introduction of the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) to French Polynesia, which represents a potentially extreme example of population founding, we reassess the potential for morphological shifts to arise via drift alone. Despite only 80 years of separation from their New Zealand ancestors, French Polynesian silvereyes displayed significant changes in body and bill size and shape, most of which could be accounted for by drift, without the need to invoke selection. However, signatures of selection at genes previously identified as candidates for bill size and body shape differences in a range of bird species, also suggests a role for selective processes in driving morphological shifts within this population. Twenty-four SNPs in our RAD-Seq dataset were also found to be strongly associated with phenotypic variation. Hence, even under population founding extremes, when it is difficult to reject drift as the sole mechanism based on rate tests of phenotypic shifts, the additional role of divergent natural selection in novel environments can be revealed at the level of the genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley T Sendell-Price
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
| | - Kristen C Ruegg
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
- Center for Tropical Research, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sonya M Clegg
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, 4111, Australia
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6
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Millon A, Lambin X, Devillard S, Schaub M. Quantifying the contribution of immigration to population dynamics: a review of methods, evidence and perspectives in birds and mammals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:2049-2067. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Revised: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Millon
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, IMBE, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie marine et continentale, Technopôle Arbois‐Méditerranée, Bât. Villemin – BP 80 F‐13545 Aix‐en‐Provence cedex 04 France
| | - Xavier Lambin
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ Aberdeen U.K
| | - Sébastien Devillard
- Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive F‐69100 Villeurbanne France
| | - Michael Schaub
- Swiss Ornithological Institute Seerose 1, 6204 Sempach Switzerland
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8
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Zink RM, Vázquez-Miranda H. Species Limits and Phylogenomic Relationships of Darwin’s Finches Remain Unresolved: Potential Consequences of a Volatile Ecological Setting. Syst Biol 2018; 68:347-357. [DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syy073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Robert M Zink
- School of Natural Resources
- School of Biological Sciences
- Nebraska State Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
| | - Hernán Vázquez-Miranda
- School of Natural Resources
- Nebraska State Museum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
- Colección Nacional de Aves (CNAV), Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, C.P. 04500, Mexico
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DeRose MA, Roff DA. A COMPARISON OF INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN LIFE-HISTORY AND MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS IN ANIMALS. Evolution 2017; 53:1288-1292. [PMID: 28565531 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb04541.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/1998] [Accepted: 03/19/1999] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The current study tests the hypothesis that life-history traits (closely related to fitness) show greater inbreeding depression than morphological traits (less closely related to fitness). The mean and median slope of the standardized coefficient of inbreeding depression (the slope of the linear relationship between F and the trait value) for life-history and morphological traits were compared. Slopes for life-history traits were higher than those for morphological traits. At F = 0.25 (full-sibling mating), life-history traits experienced a median reduction of 11.8% in trait value, whereas morphological traits showed a depression in trait value of approximately 2.2%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc A DeRose
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1, Canada
| | - Derek A Roff
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1, Canada
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10
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Keller LF. INBREEDING AND ITS FITNESS EFFECTS IN AN INSULAR POPULATION OF SONG SPARROWS (MELOSPIZA MELODIA). Evolution 2017; 52:240-250. [PMID: 28568167 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1998.tb05157.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/1997] [Accepted: 09/29/1997] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Inbreeding depression is thought to be a major factor affecting the evolution of mating systems and dispersal. While there is ample evidence for inbreeding depression in captivity, it has rarely been documented in natural populations. In this study, I examine data from a long-term demographic study of an insular population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and present evidence for inbreeding depression. Forty-four percent of all matings on Mandarte Island, British Columbia, were among known relatives. Offspring of a full-sib mating (f = 0.25) experienced a reduction in annual survival rate of 17.5% on average. Over their lifetime, females with f = 0.25 produced 48% fewer young that reached independence from parental care. In contrast, male lifetime reproductive success was not affected by inbreeding. Reduced female lifetime reproductive success was mostly due to reduced hatching rates of the eggs of inbred females. Relatedness among the parents did not affect their reproductive success. Using data on survival from egg stage to breeding age, I estimated the average song sparrow egg on Mandarte Island to carry a minimum of 5.38 lethal equivalents (the number of deleterious genes whose cumulative effect is equivalent to one lethal); 2.88 of these lethal equivalents were expressed from egg stage to independence of parental care. This estimate is higher than most estimates reported for laboratory populations and lower than those reported for zoo populations. Hence, the costs of inbreeding in this population were substantial and slightly above those expected from laboratory studies. Variability in estimates of lethal equivalents among years showed that costs of inbreeding were not constant across years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas F Keller
- Department of Wildlife Ecology, 1630 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706
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Grant BR, Grant PR. CULTURAL INHERITANCE OF SONG AND ITS ROLE IN THE EVOLUTION OF DARWIN'S FINCHES. Evolution 2017; 50:2471-2487. [PMID: 28565664 DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb03633.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/1995] [Accepted: 04/30/1996] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Songs of Darwin's finches were studied on the Galápagos Island of Daphne Major from 1976 to 1995. A single, structurally simple, and unvarying song is sung throughout life by each male of the two common species, Geospiza fortis (medium ground finch) and G. scandens (cactus finch). Songs of the two species differ strongly in quantitative features, and individual variation among males is much broader in G. fortis than in G. scandens. Although there are exceptions, songs of sons strongly resemble the songs of their fathers. They also resemble the songs of their paternal grandfathers, but not their maternal grandfathers, indicating that they are culturally inherited and not genetically inherited. Female G. fortis display a tendency to avoid mating with males that sing the same type of song as their father. They also avoid mating with males that sing heterospecific song, with very rare exceptions. Thus song, an evolving, culturally inherited trait, is an important factor in species recognition and mate choice. It constrains the mating of females to conspecifics, even when there is no genetic penalty to interbreeding, and thus may play a crucial role in species formation by promoting genetic isolation on secondary contact. The barrier is leaky in that occasional errors in song transmission result in misimprinting, which leads to a low incidence of hybridization and introgression. Introgression slows the rate of postzygotic isolation, but can produce individuals in novel genetic and morphological space that can provide the starting point of a new evolutionary trajectory.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Rosemary Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544-1003
| | - Peter R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544-1003
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Hertach T, Puissant S, Gogala M, Trilar T, Hagmann R, Baur H, Kunz G, Wade EJ, Loader SP, Simon C, Nagel P. Complex within a Complex: Integrative Taxonomy Reveals Hidden Diversity in Cicadetta brevipennis (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) and Unexpected Relationships with a Song Divergent Relative. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165562. [PMID: 27851754 PMCID: PMC5112989 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple sources of data in combination are essential for species delimitation and classification of difficult taxonomic groups. Here we investigate a cicada taxon with unusual cryptic diversity and we attempt to resolve seemingly contradictory data sets. Cicada songs act as species-specific premating barriers and have been used extensively to reveal hidden taxonomic diversity in morphologically similar species. The Palaearctic Cicadetta montana species complex is an excellent example where distinct song patterns have disclosed multiple recently described species. Indeed, two taxa turned out to be especially diverse in that they form a “complex within the complex”: the Cicadetta cerdaniensis song group (four species studied previously) and Cicadetta brevipennis (examined in details here). Based on acoustic, morphological, molecular, ecological and spatial data sampled throughout their broad European distribution, we find that Cicadetta brevipennis s. l. comprises five lineages. The most distinct lineage is identified as Cicadetta petryi Schumacher, 1924, which we re-assign to the species level. Cicadetta brevipennis litoralis Puissant & Hertach ssp. n. and Cicadetta brevipennis hippolaidica Hertach ssp. n. are new to science. The latter hybridizes with Cicadetta brevipennis brevipennis Fieber, 1876 at a zone inferred from intermediate song patterns. The fifth lineage requires additional investigation. The C. cerdaniensis and the C. brevipennis song groups exhibit characteristic, clearly distinct basic song patterns that act as reproductive barriers. However, they remain completely intermixed in the Bayesian and maximum likelihood COI and COII mitochondrial DNA phylogenies. The closest relative of each of the four cerdaniensis group species is a brevipennis group taxon. In our favoured scenario the phylogenetic pairs originated in common Pleistocene glacial refuges where the taxa speciated and experienced sporadic inter-group hybridization leading to extensive introgression and mitochondrial capture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hertach
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Biogeography, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, Department of Invertebrates, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Stéphane Puissant
- Muséum–Jardin des Sciences, Mairie de Dijon, Dijon, France
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France
| | - Matija Gogala
- Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tomi Trilar
- Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Reto Hagmann
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Biogeography, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, Department of Invertebrates, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hannes Baur
- Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern, Department of Invertebrates, Bern, Switzerland
- University of Bern, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Gernot Kunz
- Department of Zoology, Karl Franzens University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Elizabeth J. Wade
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America
- United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Simon P. Loader
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Biogeography, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Life Sciences Department, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom
| | - Chris Simon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Peter Nagel
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Biogeography, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Grant PR, Grant BR. Conspecific versus heterospecific gene exchange between populations of Darwin's finches. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:1065-76. [PMID: 20194169 PMCID: PMC2830231 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This study addresses the extent and consequences of gene exchange between populations of Darwin's finches. Four species of ground finches (Geospiza) inhabit the small island of Daphne Major in the centre of the Galápagos archipelago. We undertook a study of microsatellite DNA variation at 16 loci in order to quantify gene flow within species owing to immigration and between species owing to hybridization. A combination of pedigrees of observed breeders and assignments of individuals to populations by the program Structure enabled us to determine the frequency of gene exchange and the island of origin of immigrants in some cases. The relatively large populations of Geospiza fortis and G. scandens receive conspecific immigrants at a rate of less than one per generation. They exchange genes more frequently by rare but repeated hybridization. Effects of heterospecific gene flow from hybridization are not counteracted by lower fitness of the offspring. As a result, the standing genetic variation of the two main resident populations on Daphne Major is enhanced to a greater extent by introgressive hybridization than through breeding with conspecific immigrants. Immigrant G. fuliginosa also breeds with G. fortis. Conspecific immigration was highest in the fourth species, G. magnirostris. This species is much larger than the other three and perhaps for this reason it has not bred with any of them. The source island of most immigrants is probably the neighbouring island of Santa Cruz. Evolutionary change may be inhibited in G. magnirostris by continuing gene flow, but enhanced in G. fortis and G. scandens by introgressive hybridization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
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Willson JD, Winne CT, Pilgrim MA, Romanek CS, Gibbons JW. Seasonal variation in terrestrial resource subsidies influences trophic niche width and overlap in two aquatic snake species: a stable isotope approach. OIKOS 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17939.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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15
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Grant PR, Grant BR. The secondary contact phase of allopatric speciation in Darwin's finches. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:20141-8. [PMID: 19918081 PMCID: PMC2787178 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0911761106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Speciation, the process by which two species form from one, involves the development of reproductive isolation of two divergent lineages. Here, we report the establishment and persistence of a reproductively isolated population of Darwin's finches on the small Galápagos Island of Daphne Major in the secondary contact phase of speciation. In 1981, an immigrant medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis) arrived on the island. It was unusually large, especially in beak width, sang an unusual song, and carried some Geospiza scandens alleles. We followed the fate of this individual and its descendants for seven generations over a period of 28 years. In the fourth generation, after a severe drought, the lineage was reduced to a single brother and sister, who bred with each other. From then on this lineage, inheriting unusual song, morphology, and a uniquely homozygous marker allele, was reproductively isolated, because their own descendants bred with each other and with no other member of the resident G. fortis population. These observations agree with some expectations of an ecological theory of speciation in that a barrier to interbreeding arises as a correlated effect of adaptive divergence in morphology. However, the important, culturally transmitted, song component of the barrier appears to have arisen by chance through an initial imperfect copying of local song by the immigrant. The study reveals additional stochastic elements of speciation, in which divergence is initiated in allopatry; immigration to a new area of a single male hybrid and initial breeding with a rare hybrid female.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
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Evans KL, Gaston KJ, Sharp SP, McGowan A, Hatchwell BJ. The effect of urbanisation on avian morphology and latitudinal gradients in body size. OIKOS 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2008.17092.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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17
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Meffert LM, Hicks SK, Regan JL. Nonadditive genetic effects in animal behavior. Am Nat 2008; 160 Suppl 6:S198-213. [PMID: 18707477 DOI: 10.1086/342896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Heritabilities, commonly used to predict evolutionary potential, are notoriously low for behaviors. Apart from strong contributions of environmental variance in reducing heritabilities, the additive genetic components can be very low, especially when they are camouflaged by nonadditive genetic effects. We first report the heritabilities of courtship traits in founder-flush and control populations of the housefly (Musca domestica L.). We estimated the heritability of each male and female display through the regression of the courtships involving daughters and sons (with randomly selected mates) onto the "midparental" courtship values of their parents. Overall, the average heritability was significantly (P = .012) higher for the parent-daughter assays than for the parent-son assays. We attributed the low (even negative) heritabilities to genotype-by-environment interactions whereby the male's behavior is influenced by the "environment" of his mating partner's preferences for the display, generating epistasis through indirect genetic effects. Moreover, bottlenecked lines had up to 800% of the heritability of the controls, suggesting "conversion" of additive genetic variance from nonadditive components. Second, we used line-cross assays on separate populations that had been selected for divergence in mating behavior to identify dominance and epistasis through heterosis and outbreeding depression in courtship. Finally, our literature review confirms the prevalence of such low heritabilities (i.e., a conservative mean of 0.38) and nonadditive genetics in other behavioral repertoires (64% of the studies). We conclude that animal behavior is especially prone to the gamut of quantitative genetic complexities that can result in negative heritabilities, negative selection responses, inbreeding depression, conversion, heterosis, and outbreeding depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa M Meffert
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, MS 170, Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892, USA
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18
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Abstract
Darwin's finches in the Galápagos archipelago are an unusual example of adaptive radiation in that the basal split separates two lineages of warbler finches (Certhidea olivacea and Certhidea fusca) believed until recently to be only one species. The large genetic difference between them contrasts with their similarity in plumage, size, shape, and courtship behavior. They differ in song, which is a key factor in premating isolation of other sympatric Darwin's finches. We conducted playback experiments to see whether members of the population of C. olivacea on Santa Cruz Island would respond to songs of C. fusca from two islands, Genovesa and Pinta, and songs of C. olivacea from another island (Isabela). Another set of experiments was performed, using the same playback tapes, with C. fusca on Genovesa. Some members of both populations responded to all playbacks; therefore, the hypothesis of complete premating isolation on the basis of song is rejected. Discrimination between songs of the two lineages was inconsistent. We conclude that premating barriers to interbreeding among the tested populations have not arisen in the 1.5-2.0 m.yr. of their geographical isolation on different islands. This contrasts with strong premating barriers between more recently derived sympatric species. Early learning of song associated with morphology is later used in mate recognition. This explains why sympatric species that are vocally and morphologically distinct yet genetically less differentiated than Certhidea do not interbreed, whereas the Certhidea lineages that are genetically well differentiated but vocally and morphologically similar have no apparent premating barrier. We discuss this unusual situation in terms of the forces that have produced similarities and differences in song, morphology, and ecology and their relevance to phylogenetic and biological species concepts. Neither principles nor details are unique to Darwin's finches, and we conclude by pointing out strong parallels with some continental birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Rosemary Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-1003, USA
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19
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Grant PR, Grant BR. Pedigrees, assortative mating and speciation in Darwin's finches. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 275:661-8. [PMID: 18211884 PMCID: PMC2596835 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2007] [Revised: 11/14/2007] [Accepted: 11/20/2007] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Pedigree analysis is a useful tool in the study of speciation. It can reveal trans-generational influences on the choice of mates. We examined mating patterns in a population of Darwin's medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) on Daphne Major Island to improve our understanding of how a barrier to the exchange of genes between populations arises in evolution. Body sizes of mates were weakly correlated. In one year, the smallest females were paired non-randomly with the males of similar size, and in another year the largest males were paired with the largest females. An influence of parental morphology on the choice of mates, as expected from sexual imprinting theory, was found; the body size of mates was predicted by the body sizes of both parents, and especially strongly by the father's. These associations imply that the seeds of reproductive isolation between species are present within a single variable population. The implication was subject to a natural test: two exceptionally large birds of the study species, apparently immigrants, bred with each other, as did their offspring, and not with the members of the resident population. The intense inbreeding represents incipient speciation. It parallels a similar phenomenon when another species, the large ground finch, immigrated to Daphne and established a new population without interbreeding with the resident medium ground finches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
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SACCHERI ILIKJ, NICHOLS RICHARDA, BRAKEFIELD PAULM. Morphological differentiation following experimental bottlenecks in the butterflyBicyclus anynana(Nymphalidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00662.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Abstract
Competitor species can have evolutionary effects on each other that result in ecological character displacement; that is, divergence in resource-exploiting traits such as jaws and beaks. Nevertheless, the process of character displacement occurring in nature, from the initial encounter of competitors to the evolutionary change in one or more of them, has not previously been investigated. Here we report that a Darwin's finch species (Geospiza fortis) on an undisturbed Galápagos island diverged in beak size from a competitor species (G. magnirostris) 22 years after the competitor's arrival, when they jointly and severely depleted the food supply. The observed evolutionary response to natural selection was the strongest recorded in 33 years of study, and close to the value predicted from the high heritability of beak size. These findings support the role of competition in models of community assembly, speciation, and adaptive radiations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
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22
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Abstract
Two genetic consequences are often considered evidence of a founder effect: substantial loss in genetic diversity and rapid divergence between source and founder populations. Single-step founder events have been studied for these effects, but with mixed results, causing continued controversy over the role of founder events in divergence. Experiments of serial bottlenecks have shown losses of diversity, increased divergence, and rapid behavioural changes possibly leading to reproductive isolation between source and final populations. The few studies conducted on natural, sequentially founded systems show some evidence of these effects. We examined a natural vertebrate system of sequential colonization among northwestern song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). This system has an effectively linear distribution, it was probably colonized within the last 10,000 years, there are morphological and behavioural differences among populations, and the westernmost populations occur in atypical habitats for the species. Eight microsatellite loci from eight populations in Alaska and British Columbia (n = 205) showed stepwise loss of genetic diversity, genetic evidence for strong population bottlenecks, and increased population divergence. The endpoint population on Attu Island has extremely low diversity (H(E) = 0.18). Our study shows that sequential bottlenecks or founder events can have powerful genetic effects in reducing diversity, possibly leading to rapid evolutionary divergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christin L Pruett
- University of Alaska Museum, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
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23
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Hau M, Wikelski M, Gwinner H, Gwinner E. Timing of reproduction in a Darwin's finch: temporal opportunism under spatial constraints. OIKOS 2004. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.13206.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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GRANT BROSEMARY, GRANT PETERR. Simulating secondary contact in allopatric speciation: an empirical test of premating isolation. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2002. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00076.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Clegg SM, Degnan SM, Kikkawa J, Moritz C, Estoup A, Owens IPF. Genetic consequences of sequential founder events by an island-colonizing bird. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2002; 99:8127-32. [PMID: 12034870 PMCID: PMC123032 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.102583399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2001] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The importance of founder events in promoting evolutionary changes on islands has been a subject of long-running controversy. Resolution of this debate has been hindered by a lack of empirical evidence from naturally founded island populations. Here we undertake a genetic analysis of a series of historically documented, natural colonization events by the silvereye species-complex (Zosterops lateralis), a group used to illustrate the process of island colonization in the original founder effect model. Our results indicate that single founder events do not affect levels of heterozygosity or allelic diversity, nor do they result in immediate genetic differentiation between populations. Instead, four to five successive founder events are required before indices of diversity and divergence approach that seen in evolutionarily old forms. A Bayesian analysis based on computer simulation allows inferences to be made on the number of effective founders and indicates that founder effects are weak because island populations are established from relatively large flocks. Indeed, statistical support for a founder event model was not significantly higher than for a gradual-drift model for all recently colonized islands. Taken together, these results suggest that single colonization events in this species complex are rarely accompanied by severe founder effects, and multiple founder events and/or long-term genetic drift have been of greater consequence for neutral genetic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonya M Clegg
- Department of Biological Sciences and Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK.
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Keller LF, Grant PR, Grant BR, Petren K. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AFFECT THE MAGNITUDE OF INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN SURVIVAL OF DARWIN'S FINCHES. Evolution 2002. [DOI: 10.1554/0014-3820(2002)056[1229:ecatmo]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Marshall TC, Spalton JA. Simultaneous inbreeding and outbreeding depression in reintroduced Arabian oryx. Anim Conserv 2000. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2000.tb00109.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Gomendio M, Cassinello J, Roldan ER. A comparative study of ejaculate traits in three endangered ungulates with different levels of inbreeding: fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of reproductive and genetic stress. Proc Biol Sci 2000; 267:875-82. [PMID: 10853729 PMCID: PMC1690618 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2000.1084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied three closely related species of endangered gazelles (Gazella dorcas, Gazella dama and Gazella cuvieri) with different levels of inbreeding in order to determine at which intensities inbreeding influences ejaculate traits. We also examined whether fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is a reliable indicator of genetic as well as reproductive stress. Our results show that, within each population, the individual coefficient of inbreeding is inversely related to ejaculate quality only in the species with the highest levels of inbreeding (G. cuvieri). In addition, FA is a reliable indicator of individual levels of inbreeding in both the species with the highest levels of inbreeding (G. cuvieri) and the species with intermediate levels of inbreeding (G. dama). Thus, FA appears in individuals whose levels of inbreeding are still not high enough to affect male reproductive potential and should therefore be considered a sensitive indicator of genetic stress. Finally, FA is also a reliable indicator of male reproductive stress since it is related to individual semen quality in all the species studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gomendio
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
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31
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32
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Abstract
Despite its practical application in conservation biology and evolutionary theory, the cost of inbreeding in natural populations of plants and animals remains to a large degree unknown. In this review we have gathered estimates of inbreeding depression (delta) from the literature for wild species monitored in the field. We have also corrected estimates of delta by dividing by F (coefficient of inbreeding), to take into account the influence that the variation in F will have on delta. Our data set includes seven bird species, nine mammal species, four species of poikilotherms (snakes, fish and snails) and 15 plant species. In total we obtained 169 estimates of inbreeding depression for 137 traits; 81 of those estimates included estimates of F. We compared our mammalian data (limited to those traits related to juvenile mortality) to the estimates for captive zoo species published by Ralls et al. (1988) to determine if, as predicted from the literature, natural estimates of inbreeding depression are higher than captive estimates. The mean delta +/- SE (significantly different from zero and not corrected for F ) for homeotherms was 0.509 +/- 0.081; for poikilotherms, 0.201 +/- 0.039; and for plants, 0.331 +/- 0.038. Levels of inbreeding depression this high in magnitude will be biologically important under natural conditions. When we limited our data set to mortality traits for mammals and corrected for F=0.25 (as is the case for the Ralls et al. data set), we found a significant difference between the two data sets; wild estimates had a substantially higher mean cost of inbreeding at F = 0.25: 2.155 (captive species: 0.314). Of the 169 estimates of delta, 90 were significantly different from zero, indicating that inbred wild species measured under natural conditions frequently exhibit moderate to high levels of inbreeding depression in fitness traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Crnokrak
- Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Docteur Penfield Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1B1.
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Abstract
External (environmental) factors affecting the speciation of birds are better known than the internal (genetic) factors. The opposite is true for several groups of invertebrates, Drosophila being the outstanding example. Ideas about the genetics of speciation in general trace back to Dobzhansky who worked with Drosophila. These ideas are an insufficient guide for reconstructing speciation in birds for two main reasons. First, speciation in birds proceeds with the evolution of behavioral barriers to interbreeding; postmating isolation usually evolves much later, perhaps after gene exchange has all but ceased. As a consequence of the slow evolution of postmating isolating factors the scope for reinforcement of premating isolation is small, whereas the opportunity for introgressive hybridization to influence the evolution of diverging species is large. Second, premating isolation may arise from nongenetic, cultural causes; isolation may be affected partly by song, a trait that is culturally inherited through an imprinting-like process in many, but not all, groups of birds. Thus the genetic basis to the origin of bird species is to be sought in the inheritance of adult traits that are subject to natural and sexual selection. Some of the factors involved in premating isolation (plumage, morphology, and behavior) are under single-gene control, most are under polygenic control. The genetic basis of the origin of postmating isolating factors affecting the early development of embryos (viability) and reproductive physiology (sterility) is almost completely unknown. Bird speciation is facilitated by small population size, involves few genetic changes, and occurs relatively rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Grant
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 08544-1003, USA
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35
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Abstract
The process of speciation in birds can be inferred from the pattern of diversification on islands, especially in archipelagos. The basic model is one of initial differentiation of allopatric populations, with further differentiation taking place at the time that sympatry is established. Differences that evolve in allopatry are reinforced by a regime of divergent selection on the taxa in sympatry arising from ecological pressures and not from reproductive (genetic) incompatibility. A low level of interbreeding (hybridization) at the secondary contact phase and subsequently may occur with little or no fitness loss. Introgressive hybridization has the potential to play a creative role in evolution, facilitating further divergence by enhancing genetic variation and relaxing genetic constraints on particular directions of evolutionary change under natural selection. Hybridization potential may last for many millions of years after two taxa diverge, implying that post-zygotic isolation evolves slowly. The main alternative model of speciation in island birds is the peripatric model. It emphasizes major genetic changes taking place in the founding of a new population by a small number of individuals. There is no direct evidence that would make it preferable to the standard allopatric model for islands.
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