Neotropical birds show a humped distribution of within-population genetic diversity along a latitudinal transect
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2010
Publication Title
Ecology Letters
Publisher
Blackwell publishing
Volume
13
First page number:
576
Last page number:
586
Abstract
The latitudinal gradient in species richness is a nearly universal ecological phenomenon. Similarly, conspecific genetic diversity often increases towards the equator – usually explained as the consequence of post-glacial range expansion or due to the shared response of genetic diversity to processes that promote species richness. However, no study has yet examined the relationship between latitude and within-population genetic diversity in exclusively tropical species. We surveyed genetic variation in nine resident bird species co-occurring in tropical lowlands between southern Mexico and western Ecuador, where avian species richness increases with decreasing latitude. Within population genetic variation was always highest at mid-range latitudes, and not in the most equatorial populations. Differences in demography and gene flow across species ranges may explain some of our observations; however, much of the pattern may be due simply to geometric constraints. Our findings have implications for conservation planning and for understanding how biodiversity scales from genes to communities.
Keywords
Biodiversity; Biogeography; Phylogeography; Population biology; Tropics
Controlled Subject
Bird populations--Research; Phylogeography; Population biology
Disciplines
Biodiversity | Ornithology | Population Biology
File Format
File Size
411 KB
Language
English
Permissions
Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Repository Citation
Miller, M. J.,
Bermingham, E.,
Klicka, J.,
Escalante, P.,
Winker, K.
(2010).
Neotropical birds show a humped distribution of within-population genetic diversity along a latitudinal transect.
Ecology Letters, 13
576-586.
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