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Integrative tracking methods elucidate the evolutionary dynamics of a migratory divide.

ABSTRACT: Migratory divides, the boundary between adjacent bird populations that migrate in different directions, are of considerable interest to evolutionary biologists because of their alleged role in speciation of migratory birds. However, the small size of many passerines has traditionally limited the tools available to track populations and as a result, restricted our ability to study how reproductive isolation might occur across a divide. Here, we integrate multiple approaches by using genetic, geolocator, and morphological data to investigate a migratory divide in hermit thrushes (Catharus guttatus). First, high genetic divergence between migratory groups indicates the divide is a region of secondary contact between historically isolated populations. Second, despite low sample sizes, geolocators reveal dramatic differences in overwintering locations and migratory distance of individuals from either side of the divide. Third, a diagnostic genetic marker that proved useful for tracking a key population suggests a likely intermediate nonbreeding location of birds from the hybrid zone. This finding, combined with lower return rates from this region, is consistent with comparatively lower fitness of hybrids, which is possibly due to this intermediate migration pattern. We discuss our results in the context of reproductive isolating mechanisms associated with migration patterns that have long been hypothesized to promote divergence across migratory divides.

SUBMITTER: Alvarado AH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4228619 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Integrative tracking methods elucidate the evolutionary dynamics of a migratory divide.

Alvarado Allison H AH Fuller Trevon L TL Smith Thomas B TB

Ecology and evolution 20140821 17

Migratory divides, the boundary between adjacent bird populations that migrate in different directions, are of considerable interest to evolutionary biologists because of their alleged role in speciation of migratory birds. However, the small size of many passerines has traditionally limited the tools available to track populations and as a result, restricted our ability to study how reproductive isolation might occur across a divide. Here, we integrate multiple approaches by using genetic, geol ...[more]

PMID: 25535561

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The latest advancements in DNA sequencing technologies have facilitated the resolution of the phylogeny of insects, yet parts of the tree of Holometabola remain unresolved. The phylogeny of Neuropterida has been extensively studied, but no strong consensus exists concerning the phylogenetic relationships within the order Neuroptera. Here, we assembled a novel transcriptomic dataset to address previously unresolved issues in the phylogeny of Neuropterida and to infer divergence times within the group. We tested the robustness of our phylogenetic estimates by comparing summary coalescent and concatenation-based phylogenetic approaches and by employing different quartet-based measures of phylogenomic incongruence, combined with data permutations. RESULTS:Our results suggest that the order Raphidioptera is sister to Neuroptera + Megaloptera. Coniopterygidae is inferred as sister to all remaining neuropteran families suggesting that larval cryptonephry could be a ground plan feature of Neuroptera. A clade that includes Nevrorthidae, Osmylidae, and Sisyridae (i.e. Osmyloidea) is inferred as sister to all other Neuroptera except Coniopterygidae, and Dilaridae is placed as sister to all remaining neuropteran families. Ithonidae is inferred as the sister group of monophyletic Myrmeleontiformia. The phylogenetic affinities of Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae were dependent on the data type analyzed, and quartet-based analyses showed only weak support for the placement of Hemerobiidae as sister to Ithonidae + Myrmeleontiformia. Our molecular dating analyses suggest that most families of Neuropterida started to diversify in the Jurassic and our ancestral character state reconstructions suggest a primarily terrestrial environment of the larvae of Neuropterida and Neuroptera. CONCLUSION:Our extensive phylogenomic analyses consolidate several key aspects in the backbone phylogeny of Neuropterida, such as the basal placement of Coniopterygidae within Neuroptera and the monophyly of Osmyloidea. Furthermore, they provide new insights into the timing of diversification of Neuropterida. Despite the vast amount of analyzed molecular data, we found that certain nodes in the tree of Neuroptera are not robustly resolved. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of integrating the results of morphological analyses with those of sequence-based phylogenomics. We also suggest that comparative analyses of genomic meta-characters should be incorporated into future phylogenomic studies of Neuropterida.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:In contact zones, genetic mixing of two taxa can be restricted by prezygotic (e.g. assortative mating) or postzygotic (lower fitness of hybrid offspring) barriers, or a combination of the two. A hybrid zone between two willow warbler subspecies (Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus, P. t. acredula) with distinctive migratory strategies occurs in central Sweden. These subspecies exhibit differences in migratory direction and distance, resulting in geographically distinct wintering areas in Africa. The subspecies may have diverged from a common refuge after the last ice age, and neutral genetic markers are homogeneous across their range. By contrast, several phenotypic traits and genetic markers of two chromosomal regions previously identified show steep clines across the divide. The evolutionary forces that maintain this migratory divide remain unknown. Here we use plumage colour, morphology, genetic markers and feather stable nitrogen-isotopes (? (15)N) to assess if assortative mating between migratory phenotypes could be acting as a possible mechanism for keeping the two forms genetically separate and maintaining the migratory divide. We colour-ringed a willow warbler breeding population in the central part of the hybrid zone and observed the breeding population to assess phenotypic and genotypic traits of social pairs. RESULTS:Our data suggest that wintering area and genetic ancestry had an effect on male arrival time to the breeding grounds which could contribute to assortment. However, evidence for assortative mating could not be detected based on a comparison of plumage colour, morphology and ? (15)N between social mates. CONCLUSION:This finding was strengthened by analyses of subspecies-specific genetic markers, which allowed us to identify the presence of a large proportion of potential hybrids and backcrosses at the study site. Our results supported the hypothesis that pre-mating isolation in willow warblers is weak, resulting in extensive hybridisation across the migratory divide.

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Integrative tracking methods elucidate the evolutionary dynamics of a migratory divide.

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Integrative tracking methods elucidate the evolutionary dynamics of a migratory divide.

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