Habitat-linked genetic structure for white-crowned sparrow ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ): Local factors shape population genetic structure.

Autor: Welke CA; Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge Lethbridge AB Canada.; Department of Biology The King's University Edmonton AB Canada., Graham B; Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge Lethbridge AB Canada., Conover RR; Department of Natural Sciences Paul Smith's College Paul Smiths New York USA., Rivers JW; Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon USA., Burg TM; Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge Lethbridge AB Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2021 Aug 10; Vol. 11 (17), pp. 11700-11717. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Aug 10 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7887
Abstrakt: Ecological, environmental, and geographic factors all influence genetic structure. Species with broad distributions are ideal systems because they cover a range of ecological and environmental conditions allowing us to test which components predict genetic structure. This study presents a novel, broad geographic approach using molecular markers, morphology, and habitat modeling to investigate rangewide and local barriers causing contemporary genetic differentiation within the geographical range of three white-crowned sparrow ( Zonotrichia leucophrys ) subspecies: Z. l. gambelii, Z. l. oriantha, and Z. l. pugetensis . Three types of genetic markers showed geographic distance between sampling sites, elevation, and ecosystem type are key factors contributing to population genetic structure. Microsatellite markers revealed white-crowned sparrows do not group by subspecies, but instead indicated four groupings at a rangewide scale and two groupings based on coniferous and deciduous ecosystems at a local scale. Our analyses of morphological variation also revealed habitat differences; sparrows from deciduous ecosystems are larger than individuals from coniferous ecosystems based on principal component analyses. Habitat modeling showed isolation by distance was prevalent in describing genetic structure, but isolation by resistance also had a small but significant influence. Not only do these findings have implications concerning the accuracy of subspecies delineations, they also highlight the critical role of local factors such as habitat in shaping contemporary population genetic structure of species with high dispersal ability.
Competing Interests: None declared.
(© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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