Evidence that Kenyan House Sparrows <i>Passer domesticus</i> invaded from multiple sites

Schrey, Aaron W.; Ragsdale, Alexandria K.; Adams, K.; Ingebretsen, N.; Lee, Jacob D.; Frederick, Bridget M.; Liebl, Andrea L.; Martin, Lynn B.

doi:10.1111/ibi.12756

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…House sparrows arrived in Kenya in the 1950s from an earlier introduction to South Africa that occurred at the turn of the 20 th century, which reduced genetic diversity substantially compared to populations elsewhere in the world (18). Previous work, relying on highly mutable microsatellites, revealed that Kenyan house sparrows within the southern half of the country were colonized from a single founding source (26,29). Further, genetic diversity increased towards the range edge and correlated strongly with distance to Mombasa (26).…”

Section: Epigenetic Potential Underlying Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic Potential and DNA Methylation in an Ongoing House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Range Expansion

Hanson

Wang

Schrey

et al. 2022

The American Naturalist

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During range expansions, epigenetic mechanisms may mediate phenotypic responses to environmental cues, enabling organisms to adjust to novel conditions at novel sites. Here, we predicted that the number of CpG sites within the genome, one form of epigenetic potential, would be important for success during range expansions because DNA methylation can modulate gene expression and hence facilitate adaptive plasticity. Previously, we found that this same form of epigenetic potential was higher in introduced compared to native populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) for two immune genes (Toll-like receptors 2A and 4). Here, we took a reduced-representation sequencing approach (ddRadSeq and EpiRadSeq) to investigate how CpG site number, as well as resultant DNA methylation, varied across five sites in the ~70 year-old Kenyan house sparrow range expansion. We found that the number of CpG sites increased towards the vanguard of the invasion, even when accounting for variation in genetic diversity among sites. This pattern was driven by more losses of CpG sites towards the core of the invasion (the initial site of introduction). Across all sequenced loci, DNA methylation decreased but became more variable towards the range-edge. However, in the subset CpG sites proximal to mutated CpG sites, DNA methylation increased and variation declined. These results indicate that epigenetic potential influenced the Kenyan house sparrow range expansion, likely by providing greater phenotypic plasticity which is genetically assimilated as populations adapt to local conditions. Similar mechanisms might underlie the successes and failures of other natural and anthropogenic range expansions. Introduction:Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, play a critical role in linking environmental variation to phenotypic variation by modifying how genes are expressed (1). In vertebrates, these processes are instrumental to cellular and tissue differentiation during development, but these same modifications can also affect evolutionarily-relevant behavioral, morphological, and physiological plasticity (2, 3). As epigenetic variation, including DNA methylation patterns, predominates in particular genomic regions (e.g., CpG dinucleotides), genomes might differ in their capacity to be modified epigenetically (4). When genomic variation associated with epigenetic marks occurs in genes that affect fitness, natural (and neutral) selection should follow, leading to differences in epigenetic potential among individuals, populations, and

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Section: Epigenetic Potential Underlying Phenotypic Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic Potential and DNA Methylation in an Ongoing House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Range Expansion

Hanson

Wang

Schrey

et al. 2022

The American Naturalist

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Historical Bird Atlas and Contemporary Citizen Science Data Reveal Long‐Term Changes in Geographic Range of Kenyan Birds

Nussbaumer,

Guchu

et al. 2024

Diversity and Distributions

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AimHistorical bird atlases provide comprehensive datasets for investigating long‐term changes in species' distribution. In the context of accelerating biodiversity loss, these datasets can lend critical insights into the state of bird distributions across broad spatio‐temporal scales and provide much‐needed information for impactful conservation. In Africa, the potential of atlas data to understand changes in avian populations remains largely untapped.LocationThis study mapped changes in national distribution patterns of 1088 bird species found in Kenya.MethodsTapping into one of the earliest atlas databases, this study compared Kenyan bird atlas data collected between 1970 and 1984 with recent citizen science data sourced from the Kenya Bird Map project and eBird to determine changes in ranges across 50 years. We produced maps displaying, for every 27 × 27 km square of the country, whether a species appeared, was present throughout both periods, or disappeared. We account for the change in data collection effort between the two periods by quantifying the confidence of the change for each square.ResultsThe maps produced for each species are publicly accessible through an interactive website: https://kenyabirdtrends.co.ke/. We found that related species tended to experience similar changes in their distribution ranges. The ranges of Palearctic migrants and scavengers declined drastically, while introduced birds experienced a significant range increase over the past 50 years.Main ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the potential of integrating recent citizen science data with historical atlas data to draw out the changes in range for all species at national level. The range contraction of Palearctic migrants and scavengers echoed corresponding drops in abundance at local, regional and global scales. These findings lend additional weight to the need for an increased conservation focus on migratory and scavenging birds in Kenya.

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Evidence that Kenyan House Sparrows Passer domesticus invaded from multiple sites

Cited by 2 publications

References 35 publications

Epigenetic Potential and DNA Methylation in an Ongoing House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Range Expansion

Epigenetic Potential and DNA Methylation in an Ongoing House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Range Expansion

Historical Bird Atlas and Contemporary Citizen Science Data Reveal Long‐Term Changes in Geographic Range of Kenyan Birds

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