Modelling dispersal in a large parrot: a comparison of landscape resistance models with population genetics and vocal dialect patterns

Keighley, Miles V.; Langmore, Naomi E.; Peñalba, Joshua V.; Heinsohn, Robert

doi:10.1007/s10980-019-00938-0

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Some of these differentiating patterns follow the Great Dividing Range, a band of mountains that stretches along most of the eastern Australian coastline forming the continental divide. The Great Dividing Range plays a variable role in limiting avian geneflow ( Pavlova et al, 2013 ; Keighley et al, 2020 ), and though no strong population difference is seen across this range in Australian starlings ( Stuart et al, 2021b ), our results suggest elevation is likely still exerting small scale allelic effects. The second most important environmental predictor was temperature seasonality, providing further evidence that temperature fluctuations, which also captures extreme temperature events, may be a more relevant driver of survival and evolution of small insectivorous avian species, compared to mean temperatures ( Vasseur et al, 2014 ; Gardner et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Genetics and Plasticity Are Responsible for Ecogeographical Patterns in a Recent Invasion

et al. 2022

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Patterns of covariation between phenotype and environment are presumed to be reflective of local adaptation, and therefore translate to a meaningful influence on an individual’s overall fitness within that specific environment. However, these environmentally driven patterns may be the result of numerous and interacting processes, such as genetic variation, epigenetic variation, or plastic non-heritable variation. Understanding the relative importance of different environmental variables on underlying genetic patterns and resulting phenotypes is fundamental to understanding adaptation. Invasive systems are excellent models for such investigations, given their propensity for rapid evolution. This study uses reduced representation sequencing data paired with phenotypic data to examine whether important phenotypic traits in invasive starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) within Australia appear to be highly heritable (presumably genetic) or appear to vary with environmental gradients despite underlying genetics (presumably non-heritable plasticity). We also sought to determine which environmental variables, if any, play the strongest role shaping genetic and phenotypic patterns. We determined that environmental variables—particularly elevation—play an important role in shaping allelic trends in Australian starlings and may also reinforce neutral genetic patterns resulting from historic introduction regime. We examined a range of phenotypic traits that appear to be heritable (body mass and spleen mass) or negligibly heritable (e.g. beak surface area and wing length) across the starlings’ Australian range. Using SNP variants associated with each of these phenotypes, we identify key environmental variables that correlate with genetic patterns, specifically that temperature and precipitation putatively play important roles shaping phenotype in this species. Finally, we determine that overall phenotypic variation is correlated with underlying genetic variation, and that these interact positively with the level of vegetation variation within a region, suggesting that ground cover plays an important role in shaping selection and plasticity of phenotypic traits within the starlings of Australia.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Genetics and Plasticity Are Responsible for Ecogeographical Patterns in a Recent Invasion

et al. 2022

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“…Given the limited dispersal between European populations of monk parrots, another possibility is that there is vocal and genetic concordance, as is observed in crimson rosellas ( Ribot et al 2012 ) and palm cockatoos ( Keighley et al 2020 ). However, we find this unlikely in our study system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilevel Bayesian analysis of monk parakeet contact calls shows dialects between European cities

Smeele,

Tyndel,

Aplin

et al. 2023

Behavioral Ecology

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Geographic differences in vocalizations provide strong evidence for animal culture, with patterns likely arising from generations of social learning and transmission. Most studies on the evolution of avian vocal variation have predominantly focused on fixed repertoire, territorial song in passerine birds. The study of vocal communication in open-ended learners and in contexts where vocalizations serve other functions is therefore necessary for a more comprehensive understanding of vocal dialect evolution. Parrots are open-ended vocal production learners that use vocalizations for social contact and coordination. Geographic variation in parrot vocalizations typically take the form of either distinct regional variations known as dialects or graded variation based on geographic distance known as clinal variation. In this study, we recorded monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) across multiple spatial scales (i.e., parks and cities) in their European invasive range. We then compared calls using a multilevel Bayesian model and sensitivity analysis, with this novel approach allowing us to explicitly compare vocalizations at multiple spatial scales. We found support for founder effects and/or cultural drift at the city level, consistent with passive cultural processes leading to large-scale dialect differences. We did not find a strong signal for dialect or clinal differences between parks within cities, suggesting that birds did not actively converge on a group level signal, as expected under the group membership hypothesis. We demonstrate the robustness of our findings and offer an explanation that unifies the results of prior monk parakeet vocalization studies.

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“…In Australia, dispersal of Palm Cockatoos is inhibited by narrow corridors of rainforest habitat, the two major populations being poorly connected due to a mountain barrier [205]. In contrast, no geographical or ecological barriers were found for the Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys across inter-Andean valleys in Bolivia.…”

Section: Molecular Ecology and Landscape Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Advancing Genetic Methods in the Study of Parrot Biology and Conservation

et al. 2021

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Parrots (Psittaciformes) are a well-studied, diverse group of birds distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Today, one-third of their species face extinction, mainly due to anthropogenic threats. Emerging tools in genetics have made major contributions to understanding basic and applied aspects of parrot biology in the wild and in captivity. In this review, we show how genetic methods have transformed the study of parrots by summarising important milestones in the advances of genetics and their implementations in research on parrots. We describe how genetics helped to further knowledge in specific research fields with a wide array of examples from the literature that address the conservation significance of (1) deeper phylogeny and historical biogeography; (2) species- and genus-level systematics and taxonomy; (3) conservation genetics and genomics; (4) behavioural ecology; (5) molecular ecology and landscape genetics; and (6) museomics and historical DNA. Finally, we highlight knowledge gaps to inform future genomic research on parrots. Our review shows that the application of genetic techniques to the study of parrot biology has far-reaching implications for addressing diverse research aims in a highly threatened and charismatic clade of birds.

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Modelling dispersal in a large parrot: a comparison of landscape resistance models with population genetics and vocal dialect patterns

Cited by 6 publications

References 48 publications

Genetics and Plasticity Are Responsible for Ecogeographical Patterns in a Recent Invasion

Genetics and Plasticity Are Responsible for Ecogeographical Patterns in a Recent Invasion

Multilevel Bayesian analysis of monk parakeet contact calls shows dialects between European cities

Advancing Genetic Methods in the Study of Parrot Biology and Conservation

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