Life history and ecology might explain incongruent population structure in two co-distributed montane bird species of the Atlantic Forest

Author(s)

Ribeiro, Tiago da Silva ^[1] ; Batalha-Filho, Henrique ^{[1, 2]} ; Silveira, Luis Fabio ^[3] ; Miyaki, Cristina Yumi ^[1] ; Maldonado-Coelho, Marcos ^{[4, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Genet & Biol Evolut, Lab Genet & Evolucao Mol Aves, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Bahia, Inst Biol1, BR-40170115 Salvador, BA - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Lund Univ, Dept Biol, Solvegatan 37, S-22362 Lund - Sweden

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution; v. 153, DEC 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Comparative phylogeography is a powerful approach to investigate the role of historical and environmental processes in the evolution of biodiversity within a region. In this regard, comparative studies of species with similar habitat preferences are valuable to reduce the confounding influence of habitat association when interpreting phylogeographic patterns. In the Atlantic Forest of South America, phylogeographic studies of highland and lowland species have shown distinct population structure patterns so far, suggesting that such species have responded differently to Pleistocene glacial cycles. Herein, we performed a comparative analysis using molecular data and paleodistribution models of two Montane Atlantic Forest (MAF) co-distributed passerine birds with similar habitat requirements but with distinct life-history traits and ecologies: the frugivore lek-breeding Blue Manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata) and the insectivore and socially monogamous Drab-Breasted Bamboo Tyrant (Hemitriccus diops). We aimed to shed light on the role of contrasting life histories and ecologies onto the demography and population structure of MAF species. We sampled both species throughout most of their distribution range, sequenced a mitochondrial and a nuclear molecular marker, and used standard phylogeographic methods to investigate population structure and ecological niche modeling (ENM) to infer the species' paleodistributions. Our analyses recovered a phylogeographic break in H. diops in the region of the Doce River, but no genetic structure in C. caudata. We also found higher differentiation among subpopulations within each lineage of H. diops than among subpopulations of C. caudata. We suggest that these discrepancies in population structure might be due to distinct life-history traits and their impact on gene flow and generation time. For example, while H. diops is an insectivore species, C. caudata is a frugivore and the latter ecological aspect likely selects for a higher dispersion distance. Additionally, because C. caudata is a lek-breeding species, it has a longer generation time than H. diops. These traits could hinder genetic differentiation when populations become geographically isolated. Nonetheless, both species showed some common biological features, such as signatures of synchronous population expansion and larger distribution ranges during the Last Glacial Maximum, possibly due to similar cold tolerance. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/05399-3 - Phylogeography of Chiroxiphia caudata (Pipridae, AVES) and of Hemitriccus diops (Tyrannidae, AVES): population structure and demographic history of passerines from Atlantic Rainforest
• Grantee: Tiago da Silva Ribeiro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 13/50297-0 - Dimensions US-BIOTA São Paulo: a multidisciplinary framework for biodiversity prediction in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot
• Grantee: Cristina Yumi Miyaki
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants