The interaction between sibling species that share a zone of contact is a multifaceted relationship affected by climate change [1, 2]. Between sibling species, interactions may occur at whole-organism (direct or indirect competition) or genomic (hybridization and introgression) levels [3-5]. Tracking hybrid zone movements can provide insights about influences of environmental change on species interactions [1]. Here, we explore the extent and mechanism of movement of the contact zone between black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) at whole-organism and genomic levels. We find strong evidence that winter temperatures limit the northern extent of P. carolinensis by demonstrating a current-day association between the range limit of this species and minimum winter temperatures. We further show that this temperature limitation has been consistent over time because we are able to accurately hindcast the previous northern range limit under earlier climate conditions. Using genomic data, we confirm northward movement of this contact zone over the past decade and highlight temporally consistent differential-but limited-geographic introgression of alleles. Our results provide an informative example of the influence of climate change on a contact zone between sibling species.

Studies of hybrid zone dynamics often investigate a single sampling period and draw conclusions from that temporal snapshot.Stochasticity can, however, result in loci with spurious outlier patterns, which is exacerbated by limited temporal or geographic sampling. Comparing admixed populations from different geographic regions is one way to detect repeatedly divergent genomic regions potentially involved in reproductive isolation. Temporal comparisons also allow us to control partially for the role of stochasticity, but the power of temporal sampling has not yet been adequately explored. In North America, black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina (P. carolinensis) chickadees hybridize in a contact zone extending from New Jersey to Kansas. The hybrid zone is likely maintained by strong intrinsic selection against hybrids, and it is moving north. We used a reduced representation genomic approach and temporally spaced sampling-two samples of ß80 individuals separated by a decade-to determine the pattern and consistency of selection and genomic introgression in the chickadee hybrid zone. We report consistently low introgression for highly divergent loci between P. atricapillus and P. carolinensis in this moving hybrid zone. This is strong evidence that these loci may be linked to genomic regions involved in reproductive isolation between chickadees. K E Y W O R D S :Black-capped chickadee, Carolina chickadee, genomic cline, genotyping by sequencing (GBS), introgression.New species can arise when genetic differentiation leads to reproductive isolation between diverging lineages. Determining the genetic architecture of divergence and reproductive isolation is key to understanding the speciation process and we focus on genetic divergence in this study. Recent studies in natural populations have found substantial support for the genic or semipermeable genome view of speciation, which posits that divergence and isolation are often properties of individual genetic loci-and potentially small regions surrounding them-rather than large blocks of the genome

Since David Lack first proposed that birds rear as many young as they can nourish, food limitation has been accepted as the primary explanation for variation in clutch size and other life-history traits in birds. The importance of food limitation in life-history variation, however, was recently questioned on theoretical grounds. Here, we show that clutch size differences between two populations of a neotropical thrush were contrary to expectations under Lack's food limitation hypothesis. Larger clutch sizes were found in a population with higher nestling starvation rate (i.e. greater food limitation). We experimentally equalized clutches between populations to verify this difference in food limitation. Our experiment confirmed greater food limitation in the population with larger mean clutch size. In addition, incubation bout length and nestling growth rate were also contrary to predictions of food limitation theory. Our results demonstrate the inability of food limitation to explain differences in several life-history traits: clutch size, incubation behaviour, parental feeding rate and nestling growth rate. These life-history traits were better explained by inter-population differences in nest predation rates. Food limitation may be less important to life history evolution in birds than suggested by traditional theory.