Phylogeography of the Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli): diversification, introgression, and expansion in response to Quaternary climate change
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2007
Publication Title
Molecular Ecology
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing
Volume
16
Issue
5
First page number:
1055
Last page number:
1068
Abstract
Since the late 1990s, molecular techniques have fuelled debate about the role of Pleistocene glacial cycles in structuring contemporary avian diversity in North America. The debate is still heated; however, there is widespread agreement that the Pleistocene glacial cycles forced the repeated contraction, fragmentation, and expansion of the North American biota. These demographic processes should leave genetic ‘footprints’ in modern descendants, suggesting that detailed population genetic studies of contemporary species provide the key to elucidating the impact of the late Quaternary (late Pleistocene–Holocene). We present an analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in the mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli) in an attempt to examine the genetic evidence of the impact of the late Quaternary glacial cycles. Phylogenetic analyses reveal two strongly supported clades of P. gambeli: an Eastern Clade (Rocky Mountains and Great Basin) and a Western Clade (Sierra Nevada and Cascades). Post-glacial introgression is apparent between these two clades in the Mono Lake region of Central California. Within the Eastern Clade there is evidence of isolation-by-distance in the Rocky Mountain populations, and of limited gene flow into and around the Great Basin. Coalescent analysis of genetic variation in the Western Clade indicates that northern (Sierra Nevada/Cascades) and southern (Transverse/Peninsular Ranges) populations have been isolated and evolving independently for nearly 60 000 years.
Keywords
Divergence (Biology); Mountain chickadee; phylogeography; Poecile gambeli
Controlled Subject
Mountain chickadee; Phylogeography; Population biology
Disciplines
Evolution | Molecular Genetics | Ornithology | Population Biology
File Format
File Size
340 KB
Language
English
Permissions
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Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Repository Citation
Spellman, G. M.,
Riddle, B. R.,
Klicka, J.
(2007).
Phylogeography of the Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli): diversification, introgression, and expansion in response to Quaternary climate change.
Molecular Ecology, 16(5),
1055-1068.
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