Population differentiation and restricted gene flow in Spanish crossbills: not isolation‐by‐distance but isolation‐by‐ecology

Divergent selection stemming from environmental variation may induce local adaptation and ecological speciation whereas gene flow might have a homogenizing effect. Gene flow among populations using different environments can be reduced by geographical distance (isolation‐by‐distance) or by divergent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2012-03, Vol.25 (3), p.417-430
Main Authors: EDELAAR, P., ALONSO, D., LAGERVELD, S., SENAR, J. C., BJÖRKLUND, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptation, Biological - genetics
Adaptations
Analysis of Variance
Animals
Base Sequence
Beak - anatomy & histology
Birds
divergent selection
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
ecological speciation
Ecosystem
Evolutionary biology
Gene flow
Gene Flow - genetics
Genetic Variation - genetics
Genetics, Population
Geography
landscape genetics
Loxia curvirostra
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular Sequence Data
Morphology
Neutral gene
Passeriformes - anatomy & histology
Passeriformes - genetics
Passeriformes - physiology
Phenotype
Population differentiation
population divergence
Population Dynamics
Population genetics
Population structure
reproductive isolation
resource specialization
Selection, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Spain
Speciation
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
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Summary:Divergent selection stemming from environmental variation may induce local adaptation and ecological speciation whereas gene flow might have a homogenizing effect. Gene flow among populations using different environments can be reduced by geographical distance (isolation‐by‐distance) or by divergent selection stemming from resource use (isolation‐by‐ecology). We tested for and encountered phenotypic and genetic divergence among Spanish crossbills utilizing different species of co‐occurring pine trees as their food resource. Morphological, vocal and mtDNA divergence were not correlated with geographical distance, but they were correlated with differences in resource use. Resource diversity has now been found to repeatedly predict crossbill diversity. However, when resource use is not 100% differentiated, additional characters (morphological, vocal, genetic) must be used to uncover and validate hidden population structure. In general, this confirms that ecology drives adaptive divergence and limits neutral gene flow as the first steps towards ecological speciation, unprevented by a high potential for gene flow.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02443.x