Divergent character displacement in the song of two allospecies: the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, and the Collared Flycatcher Ficedula albicollis

Songs of the three flycatcher forms, Ficedula hypoleuca hypoleuca, Ficedula albicollis albicollis and Ficedula albicollis semitorquata , were distinguishable from one another using a multivariate analysis. F. albicollis semitorquata , which has an intermediate song character, is considered to be a primary allopatric form while the nominate subspecies of albicollis is assumed to be dispersed into sympatry with F. h. hypoleuca . The differences in song between the nominate albicollis and F. hypoleuca are accentuated in their zone of sympatry and are mostly due to divergence in the albicollis song. The song is primarily an epigamic vocalization in the two species and conforms to the pattern characteristic of divergent character displacement associated with reproductive behaviour. Two alarm calls are quite similar in the two species and are the main vocalizations associated with territorial combat. Their interspecific territorial behaviour has apparently not been affected in areas of sympatry.     

Fourteen polymorphic microsatellite loci characterized in the house sparrow Passer domesticus (Passeridae,Aves)

We characterized 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the house sparrow Passer domesticus. Four loci were isolated from house sparrow genomic libraries and 10 loci were identified by testing 100 loci that had been originally isolated in other passerine species. Loci were characterized in 37–54 unrelated sparrows from British and Norwegian populations. Each locus displayed between two and 31 alleles, with the observed heterozygosity ranging between 0.30 and 0.91.     

Apochromic populations of Dactylorhiza incarnata s.l. (Orchidaceae): diversity and systematic significance as revealed by allozyme markers and morphology

Apochromic forms of the Eurasian Dactylorhiza incarnata s.l. were studied in northern Europe to reveal their genetic (allozyme) and morphological diversity and to assess their systematic significance. The study included eight localities with sympatric populations of plants with anthocyanin‐pigmented and apochromic flowers. Parallel samples of the two morphs were taken from each locality. Genetic variation was only found at the allozyme loci pgd, pgi and ugpp. Statistically significant differences in allele frequencies between the two colour morphs were found in two localities and demonstrate that the occurrence of apochromic individuals in D. incarnata s.l. is not always because of spontaneous mutation. At least in some localities the apochromic plants form distinct breeding groups (but local populations of different colour morphs may also be composed of several more or less distinct breeding groups). Based on molecular and morphometric data, it is proposed that the apochromic study populations from calcareous fens should be referred to D. incarnata var. ochroleuca, whereas the apochromic study populations from non‐calcareous fens are better treated as aberrant local populations of var. incarnata s.l. Possible evolutionary patterns and processes are discussed and guidelines for identification of var. ochroleuca from morphological features are given. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 159 , 396–407.     

Patterns of animal dispersal, vicariance and divsrsification in the Holarctic

We analysed patterns of animal dispersal, vicariance and diversification in the Holarctic based on complete phylogenies of 57 extant non‐marine taxa, together comprising 770 species, documenting biogeographic events from the Late Mesozoic to the present. Four major areas, each corresponding to a historically persistent landmass, were used in the analyses: eastern Nearctic (EN), western Nearctic (WN), eastern Palaeoarctic (EP) and western Palaeoarctic (WP). Parsimony‐based tree fitting showed that there is no significantly supported general area cladogram for the dataset. Yet, distributions are strongly phylogenetically conserved, as revealed by dispersal‐vicariance analysis (DIVA). DIVA‐based permutation tests were used to pinpoint phylogenetically determined biogeographic patterns. Consistent with expectations, continental dispersals (WP?EP and WN?EN) are significantly more common than palaeocontinental dispersals (WN?EP and EN?WP), which in turn are more common than disjunct dispersals (EN?EP and WN?WP). There is significant dispersal asymmetry both within the Nearctic (WN→EN more common than EN→WN) and the Palaeoarctic (EP→WP more common than WP→EP). Cross‐Beringian faunal connections have traditionally been emphasized but are not more important than cross‐Atlantic connections in our data set. To analyse changes over time, we sorted biogeographic events into four major time periods using fossil, biogeographic and molecular evidence combined with a ‘branching clock’. These analyses show that trans‐Atlantic distributions (EN‐WP) were common in the Early‐Mid Tertiary (70‐20 Myr), whereas trans‐Beringian distributions (WN‐EP) were rare in that period. Most EN‐EP disjunctions date back to the Early Tertiary (70‐45 Myr), suggesting that they resulted from division of cross‐Atlantic rather than cross‐Beringian distributions. Diversification in WN and WP increased in the Quaternary (< 3 Myr), whereas in EP and EN it decreased from a maximum in the Early‐Mid Tertiary.