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Integrating morphology, phylogeography, and ecological niche modeling to explore population differentiation in North African Common Chaffinches

Journal of Ornithology volume 158, pages 1–13 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Diagnosing distinct evolutionary taxa requires careful assessment of genetic, morphological, ecological, and behavioral variation within and among populations. In this study, data on phenotype (mensural and plumage coloration), genotype (mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences), and distributional projections derived from ecological niche models, were used to investigate population differentiation of North African Common Chaffinches. Results showed substantial genetic variation among populations, mostly (~56 %) distributed between Libyan populations and other North African populations, rather than within populations. Isolation-by-distance analysis indicated severely restricted gene flow between populations. Historical demographic analyses indicate that population expansion began before the Last Glacial Maximum, which is consistent with ecological niche model paleoprojections; interestingly, differentiation of the Libyan population (Fringilla coelebs harterti) apparently did not take place under the last glacial conditions. Hence, although its taxonomic status must await robust testing using multilocus DNA data, this population is an important element in the conservation of bird diversity in North Africa.

Zusammenfassung

Integration von Morphologie, Phylogeographie und ökologischen Nischenmodellen zur Untersuchung der Populationsdifferenzierung nordafrikanischer Buchfinken Das eindeutige Diagnostizieren evolutionärer Taxa erfordert eine sorgfältige Bewertung von Variation in Genetik, Morphologie, Ökologie und Verhalten innerhalb und zwischen Populationen. In dieser Studie haben wir Daten zum Phänotyp (Messdaten und Gefiederfärbung) und Genotyp (Sequenzen von Kontrollregionen mitochondrialer DNA) sowie aus ökologischen Nischenmodellen abgeleitete Verbreitungsprojektionen verwendet, um die Populationsdifferenzierung nordafrikanischer Buchfinken zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse zeigten beträchtliche genetische Variation zwischen Populationen, hauptsächlich (~56 %) zwischen libyschen und anderen nordafrikanischen Populationen, jedoch nicht so sehr innerhalb von Populationen. Eine „Isolation durch Distanz“-Analyse wies auf einen stark eingeschränkten Genfluss zwischen Populationen hin. Analysen der historischen Demographie deuten darauf hin, dass die Populationsausdehnung vor dem letzteiszeitlichen Maximum begann, was mit Paläoprojektionen ökologischer Nischenmodelle übereinstimmt. Interessanterweise erfolgte die Differenzierung der libyschen Population offenbar nicht während des letzteiszeitlichen Maximums. Daher ist diese Population wichtig für den Schutz der Vogeldiversität in Nordafrika, obwohl ihr taxonomischer Status noch mit Hilfe von Multilocus-DNA-Daten bestätigt werden muss.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to colleagues who provided skin samples from critical specimens used in this research: George Barrowclough, Paul Sweet and Peter Capainolo (American Museum of Natural History). We are thankful to Jeff Groth for primer design and his valuable comments on this study. We extend our special thanks to Brett Benz, Lukas Musher, all three anonymous reviewers and Jan T. Lifjeld for important comments on this study; and Stephen Thurston for preparing Fig. 1. We thank Peter R. Grant for morphometric data of North African Common Chaffinches and his critical comments on this study. Occurrence data were kindly provided by the American Museum of Natural History, the Aranzadi Science Society, Artenfinder Rheinland-Pfalz, Biologiezentrum Linz Oberoesterreich, the California Academy of Sciences, the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, the University of Copenhagen, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird Observation Dataset), the Danish Ornithological Society, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Finnish Museum of Natural History, iNaturalist, the Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Paris, the Musée national d’histoire naturelle Luxembourg, the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, the National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution, Naturgucker, the Natural History Museum, the Natural History Museum, the University of Oslo, the Natural History Museum, University of Tartu, Naturalis National Natural History Museum, the Norwegian Species Observation Service, Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre, the Research Institute for Nature and Forest, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory, the Andalusian Environmental Center, University of Granada, Regional Government of Andalusia, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, the University of Gdańsk, the Bird Migration Research Station, the University of Washington Burke Museum, the University Museum of Zoology Cambridge, the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, the Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre, Yale University Peabody Museum, and the Zoological Museum Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam. Research funding for Utku Perktaş was provided by Hacettepe University and a Collection Study Grant in the American Museum of Natural History (F. M. Chapman Memorial Fund). Financial support was also provided by the L. C. Sanford Fund, the L. J. Sanford Trust, the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics and the Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics at the American Museum of Natural History.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology (Zoology Section), Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06800, Ankara, Turkey

    Utku Perktaş

  2. Department of Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Utku Perktaş & Dale Dyer

  3. Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045-2454, USA

    A. Townsend Peterson

Authors
  1. Utku Perktaş
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  2. A. Townsend Peterson
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  3. Dale Dyer
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Correspondence to Utku Perktaş.

Additional information

Communicated by J. T. Lifjeld.

Electronic supplementary material

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10336_2016_1361_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary material 1. Summary of sampling locations for morphological measurements. The ranges of the generally recognized subspecies are shown in various colors. The average and SD of each morphologic character are shown for each subspecies (TIFF 3337 kb)

Supplementary material 2. Summary of haplotypes detected as part of this study (DOCX 99 kb)

10336_2016_1361_MOESM3_ESM.eps

Supplementary material 3. Phylogram summarizing results of maximum-parsimony analyses for North African Common Chaffinches for mtDNA control region sequences based on 23 haplotypes. Numbers indicate mutational step differences (EPS 969 kb)

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Perktaş, U., Peterson, A.T. & Dyer, D. Integrating morphology, phylogeography, and ecological niche modeling to explore population differentiation in North African Common Chaffinches. J Ornithol 158, 1–13 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1361-3

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Keywords

  • Population genetics
  • Isolation by distance
  • Mitochondrial DNA
  • Maghreb
  • Fringilla coelebs
  • Fringilla coelebs harterti