Low but contrasting neutral genetic differentiation shaped by winter temperature in European great tits |
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| Authors: | Mélissa Lemoine Kay Lucek Charles Perrier Verena Saladin Frank Adriaensen Emilio Barba Eduardo J Belda Anne Charmantier Mariusz Cichoń Tapio Eeva Arnaud Grégoire Camilla A Hinde Arild Johnsen Jan Komdeur Raivo Mänd Erik Matthysen Ana Cláudia Norte Natalia Pitala Ben C Sheldon Tore Slagsvold Joost M Tinbergen János Török Richard Ubels Kees van Oers Marcel E Visser Blandine Doligez Heinz Richner |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;2. Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;3. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;4. Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5175, Montpellier Cedex 5, France;5. Division of Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;6. Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium;7. Cavanilles’ Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Paterna, Spain;8. Instituto de Investigación para la Gestión Integrada de Zonas Costeras‐IGIC, U.P.V., ES‐46730 Gandia, Valencia, Spain;9. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland;10. Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;11. Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;12. Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;13. Behavioural Ecology and Self‐organization, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary studies, University of Groningen, AG Groningen, The Netherlands;14. Department of Zoology, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia;15. Department of Life Sciences, Largo Marquês de Pombal, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal;16. Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyv?skyl?, FI‐40014, Finland;17. Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, England;18. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;19. Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, AG Groningen, The Netherlands;20. Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, E?tv?s Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary;21. Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW), PO Box 22. 50, AB Wageningen, The Netherlands;23. Department of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, CNRS, University of Lyon, UMR 5558, Villeurbanne Cedex, France;24. Animal Ecology/Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Gene flow is usually thought to reduce genetic divergence and impede local adaptation by homogenising gene pools between populations. However, evidence for local adaptation and phenotypic differentiation in highly mobile species, experiencing high levels of gene flow, is emerging. Assessing population genetic structure at different spatial scales is thus a crucial step towards understanding mechanisms underlying intraspecific differentiation and diversification. Here, we studied the population genetic structure of a highly mobile species – the great tit Parus major – at different spatial scales. We analysed 884 individuals from 30 sites across Europe including 10 close‐by sites (< 50 km), using 22 microsatellite markers. Overall we found a low but significant genetic differentiation among sites (FST = 0.008). Genetic differentiation was higher, and genetic diversity lower, in south‐western Europe. These regional differences were statistically best explained by winter temperature. Overall, our results suggest that great tits form a single patchy metapopulation across Europe, in which genetic differentiation is independent of geographical distance and gene flow may be regulated by environmental factors via movements related to winter severity. This might have important implications for the evolutionary trajectories of sub‐populations, especially in the context of climate change, and calls for future investigations of local differences in costs and benefits of philopatry at large scales. |
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| Keywords: | F‐statistics isolation‐by‐distance latitude microsatellites Parus major Population genetic structure winter severity |
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