Comparative phylogeography and genetic structure of Vanuatu birds: Control region variation in a rail, a dove, and a passerine

Kirchman, Jeremy J.; Franklin, James D.

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.12.013

Cited by 26 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…For this reason, the use of a normal prior distribution centered at 2 Ma and covering a narrow range with 95% probability (1.18–2.82 Ma) for the node grouping Vanuatu endemics would appear justified. However, Vanuatu's ecosystems have formed during the last ca 25 Myr [59], [60] and we cannot rule out an older colonisation of the archipelago by the fig wasp mutualism. The biodiversity of the archipelago is still poorly known and endemics might have existed further north, on older islands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Testing the Emergence of New Caledonia: Fig Wasp Mutualism as a Case Study and a Review of Evidence

et al. 2012

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While geologists suggest that New Caledonian main island (Grande Terre) was submerged until ca 37 Ma, biologists are struck by the presence of supposedly Gondwanan groups on the island. Among these groups are the Oreosycea fig trees (Ficus, Moraceae) and their Dolichoris pollinators (Hymenoptera, Agaonidae). These partners are distributed in the Paleotropics and Australasia, suggesting that their presence on New Caledonia could result from Gondwanan vicariance. To test this hypothesis, we obtained mitochondrial and nuclear markers (5.3 kb) from 28 species of Dolichoris, used all available sequences for Oreosycea, and conducted phylogenetic and dating analyses with several calibration strategies. All our analyses ruled out a vicariance scenario suggesting instead that New Caledonian colonization by Dolichoris and Oreosycea involved dispersal across islands from Sundaland ca 45.9-32.0 Ma. Our results show that successful long-distance dispersal of obligate mutualists may happen further suggesting that presence of intimate mutualisms on isolated islands should not be used as a priori evidence for vicariance. Comparing our results to a review of all the published age estimates for New Caledonian plant and animal taxa, we showed that support for a vicariant origin of the island biota is still lacking. Finally, as demonstrating a causal relationship between geology and biology requires independent evidence, we argue that a priori assumptions about vicariance or dispersal should not be used to constrain chronograms. This circular reasoning could lead to under or overestimation of age estimates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Testing the Emergence of New Caledonia: Fig Wasp Mutualism as a Case Study and a Review of Evidence

et al. 2012

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“…The maintenance of dispersal capacity in Z. lateralis and to a lesser extent within some populations of Z. flavifrons may not be unusual for birds inhabiting the Vanuatu archipelago. A phylogeographic study of mtDNA variation in three other widespread birds (buff-banded rail, Gallirallus phillippensis; emerald dove, Chalcophaps indica; and streaked fantail, Rhipidura spilodera) across Vanuatu revealed little evidence for geographical structure, suggesting a role for ongoing gene flow (Kirchman & Franklin 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of gene flow and drift on genetic and phenotypic divergence in two species ofZosteropsin Vanuatu

Clegg

Phillimore

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Colonization of an archipelago sets the stage for adaptive radiation. However, some archipelagos are home to spectacular radiations, while others have much lower levels of diversification. The amount of gene flow among allopatric populations is one factor proposed to contribute to this variation. In island colonizing birds, selection for reduced dispersal ability is predicted to produce changing patterns of regional population genetic structure as gene flow-dominated systems give way to driftmediated divergence. If this transition is important in facilitating phenotypic divergence, levels of genetic and phenotypic divergence should be associated. We consider population genetic structure and phenotypic divergence among two co-distributed, congeneric (Genus: Zosterops) bird species inhabiting the Vanuatu archipelago. The more recent colonist, Z. lateralis, exhibits genetic patterns consistent with a strong influence of distance-mediated gene flow. However, complex patterns of asymmetrical gene flow indicate variation in dispersal ability or inclination among populations. The endemic species, Z. flavifrons, shows only a partial transition towards a drift-mediated system, despite a long evolutionary history on the archipelago. We find no strong evidence that gene flow constrains phenotypic divergence in either species, suggesting that levels of inter-island gene flow do not explain the absence of a radiation across this archipelago.

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“…To date, very few studies at the population level have been performed in the South Pacific (Clegg and Phillimore 2010;Kirchman and Franklin 2007;Kurata et al 2008), and few have been evaluated in a comparative framework among island archipelagos (Garb and Gillespie 2006). Considering that New Caledonia and Fiji are roughly of the same size, the difference in the amount of genetic variation observed could be linked (in addition to difference in isolation) to the evolutionary timescale (Hamilton et al 2009;Keppel et al 2009).…”

Section: Population Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative phylogeography of the centipedes Cryptops pictus and C. niuensis (Chilopoda) in New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu

2011

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The South Pacific is a biodiverse region of extreme evolutionary importance because it harbors ancient lineages and recent radiations. However, few populationlevel studies of genetic variation have been conducted in the land masses of this region. Likewise, the number of population-level studies using myriapods as models is extremely small. In this article, we compare the genetic structure of two species of centipedes in the genus Cryptops endemic to the South Pacific, one from a continental island, the other from oceanic islands. The level of genetic diversity and structure in C. pictus, a species endemic to New Caledonia, is much higher than in C. niuensis in Fiji and Vanuatu, despite the fact that C. niuensis is spread across two different archipelagos and several islands. The most likely explanation is the relatively young age of the remnants of the Vitiaz Arc (Fiji and Vanuatu) compared to New Caledonia. Using the emergence of Fiji-Vanuatu as a calibration point, C. pictus is estimated to have diverged by 23.4 Mya (upper 95% confidence interval) with a mean estimate of 11.7 Mya versus the 9.7 Mya of C. niuensis. Considering the absence of shared sequences between specimens from different sampling sites and the high genetic structuring within populations, C. pictus appears to be an ideal candidate to assess historical processes at a micro-evolutionary scale in New Caledonia.

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Comparative phylogeography and genetic structure of Vanuatu birds: Control region variation in a rail, a dove, and a passerine

Cited by 26 publications

References 32 publications

Testing the Emergence of New Caledonia: Fig Wasp Mutualism as a Case Study and a Review of Evidence

Testing the Emergence of New Caledonia: Fig Wasp Mutualism as a Case Study and a Review of Evidence

The influence of gene flow and drift on genetic and phenotypic divergence in two species ofZosteropsin Vanuatu

Comparative phylogeography of the centipedes Cryptops pictus and C. niuensis (Chilopoda) in New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu

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