The influence of Pleistocene glacial refugia on tawny owl genetic diversity and phylogeography in western Europe

The glacial refugia hypothesis indicates that during the height of the Pleistocene glaciations the temperate species that are today widespread in western Europe must have survived in small and climatically favourable areas located in the southern peninsulas of Iberia, Italy and Balkans. One such spe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2005-09, Vol.14 (10), p.3077-3094
Main Author: BRITO, PATRÍCIA H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa, Northern
Animals
Asia
Biogeography
divergence time
DNA - chemistry
DNA - genetics
Europe
Evolution, Molecular
gene flow
Genetic diversity
Genetic Variation
glacial refugia
Haplotypes
Locus Control Region - genetics
Owls
Phylogeny
phylogeography
Pleistocene
Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary
RNA, Transfer, Glu - chemistry
RNA, Transfer, Glu - genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Strigiformes - genetics
Strix
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Summary:The glacial refugia hypothesis indicates that during the height of the Pleistocene glaciations the temperate species that are today widespread in western Europe must have survived in small and climatically favourable areas located in the southern peninsulas of Iberia, Italy and Balkans. One such species is the tawny owl, a relatively sedentary, nonmigratory bird presently distributed throughout Europe. It is a tree‐nesting species closely associated with deciduous and mixed coniferous woodlands. In this study I used control region mtDNA sequences from 187 individuals distributed among 14 populations to determine whether current genetic patterns in tawny owl populations were consistent with postglacial expansion from peninsular refugia. European, North African and Asian tawny owls were found to represent three distinct lineages, where North Africa is the sister clade to all European owls. Within Europe, I found three well‐supported clades that correspond to each of the three allopatric refugia. Expansion patterns indicate that owls from the Balkan refugium repopulated most of northern Europe, while expansion out of Iberia and Italy had only regional effects leading to admixture in France. Estimates of population divergence times between refugia populations are roughly similar, but one order of magnitude smaller between Greece and northern Europe. Based on a wide range of mutation rates and generation times, divergence between refugia appears to date to the Pleistocene.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02663.x