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Population genetic structure of the Atlantic Forest endemic Conopophaga lineata (Passeriformes: Conopophagidae) reveals a contact zone in the Atlantic Forest

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Abstract

The Rufous Gnateater, Conopophaga lineata, is a small insectivorous understory bird which is endemic to and widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic forest of South America. Its distribution makes it ideally suited for testing two major hypotheses for the origin of biodiversity, namely, the riverine barrier and the forest refuge hypotheses. In this study, we sequenced mitochondrial (control region) and nuclear markers (intron 5 of the β-fibrinogen gene) for individuals distributed in the southern Atlantic forest and obtained a strong genetic structure with one clear discontinuity in northern Brazilian state of São Paulo. We consistently detected signals of demographic expansion for both markers, with estimates indicating that expansion started in the Late Pleistocene (250,000 years ago), suggesting that the forest refuge hypothesis potentially explains Rufous Gnateater’s diversification. We also found evidence of gene flow between populations from each side of this discontinuity, with a possible secondary contact zone occurring in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.

Zusammenfassung

Die populationsgenetische Struktur des in der Mata Atlântica endemischen Rotkehl-Mückenfressers ( Conopophaga lineata , Passeriformes: conopophagidae) lässt eine Kontaktzone in der Mata Atlântica erkennen

Der Rotkehl-Mückenfresser, Conopophaga lineata, ist ein kleiner insektivorer Vogel, der im Unterholz der tropischen und subtropischen Mata Atlântica in Südamerika endemisch und weit verbreitet ist. Die Verbreitung des Rotkehl-Mückenfressers macht ihn besonders dafür geeignet, zwei Haupthypothesen zum Ursprung von Biodiversität zu testen, die „Flüsse als Barrieren“-Hypothese (“riverine barrier hypothesis”) und die „Wälder als Rückzugsgebiete“-Hypothese (“forest refuges hypothesis”). Wir haben mitochondriale Marker (Kontrollregion) und Zellkernmarker (Intron 5 von β-Fibrinogen) für in der südlichen Mata Atlântica verbreitete Individuen sequenziert und eine ausgeprägte genetische Struktur mit einer klaren Diskontinuität im Norden des Bundesstaates São Paulo gefunden. Für beide Marker haben wir durchweg Signale demographischer Ausbreitung entdeckt, die schätzungsweise im späten Pleistozän (vor 250000 Jahren) begann, was darauf hindeutet, dass die „Wälder als Rückzugsgebiete“-Hypothese einen möglichen Einflussfaktor bei der Diversifikation des Rotkehl-Mückenfressers darstellt. Wir haben auch Hinweise auf Genfluss zwischen Populationen auf beiden Seiten der Diskontinuität gefunden, mit einer möglichen sekundären Kontaktzone in den Bundesstaaten Minas Gerais, São Paulo und Rio de Janeiro.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by FAPEMIG (Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais 17228), CNPq, FAPESP (BIOTA 2013/50297-0), NSF (DOB 1343578), NASA, CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), and the Research Center on Biodiversity and Computing (BioComp) of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), supported by the USP Provost’s Office for Research. Gisele Dantas worked under a Post-doctoral grant CAPES/PNPD (2010/52590-8) and CNPq (503145/2009-2). We also thank the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Brazil), Instituto Florestal de São Paulo (Brazil), and Instituto Estadual de Florestas de Minas Gerais (Brazil) for the permits to collect samples (IBAMA/MMA no 03/2004 IBAMA/MMA: 011/2000, processes 1835/2000; 053/2001, 1835/00-07; 070/2002, 02015.001835/00-07; 207/2003, 02015.023482/98-38). We gratefully acknowledge the improvements in English usage made by Caitlin Stern through the Association of Field Ornithologists’ program of editorial assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biodiversidade E Evolução Molecular (LBEM), Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos, 6627,Bloco L3, Sala 244, Caixa Postal 486, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-010, Brazil

    Gisele Pires Mendonça Dantas, Eloisa Helena Reis Sari & Fabrício Rodrigues Santos

  2. Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais, PPG in Vertebrate Zoology, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Gisele Pires Mendonça Dantas

  3. Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, rua do Matão, 277, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Gustavo Sebastián Cabanne, Rodrigo Oliveira Pessoa & Cristina Yumi Miyaki

  4. CONICET–Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernadino Rivadavia”, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gustavo Sebastián Cabanne

  5. Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros (UNIMONTES), Montes Claros, MG, Brazil

    Rodrigo Oliveira Pessoa

  6. Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasilia, DF, Brazil

    Miguel Ângelo Marini

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  1. Gisele Pires Mendonça Dantas
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  2. Eloisa Helena Reis Sari
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  3. Gustavo Sebastián Cabanne
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  4. Rodrigo Oliveira Pessoa
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  5. Miguel Ângelo Marini
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  6. Cristina Yumi Miyaki
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  7. Fabrício Rodrigues Santos
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Correspondence to Gisele Pires Mendonça Dantas.

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Communicated by J. Fjeldså.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Samples of Conopophaga lineata used in nuclear intron (FIB5) and Control region analysis
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Dantas, G.P.M., Sari, E.H.R., Cabanne, G.S. et al. Population genetic structure of the Atlantic Forest endemic Conopophaga lineata (Passeriformes: Conopophagidae) reveals a contact zone in the Atlantic Forest. J Ornithol 156, 85–99 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1106-0

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