Phylogeography and taxonomy of the Little Bronze-Cuckoo (<i>Chalcites minutillus</i>) in Australia's monsoon tropics

Joseph, Leo; Zeriga, Tanya; Adcock, Gregory J.; Langmore, Naomi E.

doi:10.1071/mu10050

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The disjunct habitat specialist M. antilopinus showed limited differentiation, while the continuously distributed generalist M. robustus showed evidence of deep divergence across the CB. Previous phylogeographic studies (mostly of birds) have identified two major patterns across the CB, strong differentiation (e.g., Lee and Edwards 2008;Toon et al 2010;Kearns et al 2011) or the apparent absence of an impact (e.g., Kearns et al 2010;Joseph et al 2011). While our data for M. robustus is consistent with the first pattern, M. antilopinus appears to represent a third category, with the CB acting as a partial barrier or a porous filter to gene flow.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Differing impact of a major biogeographic barrier on genetic structure in two large kangaroos from the monsoon tropics of Northern Australia

Eldridge

Potter

Johnson

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Tropical savannas cover 20–30% of the world's land surface and exhibit high levels of regional endemism, but the evolutionary histories of their biota remain poorly studied. The most extensive and unmodified tropical savannas occur in Northern Australia, and recent studies suggest this region supports high levels of previously undetected genetic diversity. To examine the importance of barriers to gene flow and the environmental history of Northern Australia in influencing patterns of diversity, we investigated the phylogeography of two closely related, large, vagile macropodid marsupials, the antilopine wallaroo (Macropus antilopinus; n = 78), and the common wallaroo (Macropus robustus; n = 21). Both species are widespread across the tropical savannas of Australia except across the Carpentarian Barrier (CB) where there is a break in the distribution of M. antilopinus. We determined sequence variation in the hypervariable Domain I of the mitochondrial DNA control region and genotyped individuals at 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci to assess the historical and contemporary influence of the CB on these species. Surprisingly, we detected only limited differentiation between the disjunct Northern Territory and QueenslandM. antilopinus populations. In contrast, the continuously distributedM. robustus was highly divergent across the CB. Although unexpected, these contrasting responses appear related to minor differences in species biology. Our results suggest that vicariance may not explain well the phylogeographic patterns in Australia's dynamic monsoonal environments. This is because Quaternary environmental changes in this region have been complex, and diverse individual species’ biologies have resulted in less predictable and idiosyncratic responses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Differing impact of a major biogeographic barrier on genetic structure in two large kangaroos from the monsoon tropics of Northern Australia

Eldridge

Potter

Johnson

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Some of the variance in the response intensity by the host is explained by the hosts’ experience with that threat in the local population (but see [61]). In our study site, the high risk cuckoo (to which the wrens also had the highest response) was also the most common cuckoo species [62]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two sympatric cuckoo species are partial migrants, whereby some individuals remain in the same geographical area year-round while others may have short-distance migration [54]. Little bronze-cuckoo occurs in tropical regions of northern Australia and New Guinea, but not in South Australia [62]. The little bronze-cuckoo is a common parasite of gerygone and other fairy-wren species; because it does not occur in the same geographical area as our study species, it poses virtually no risk of brood parasitism to the South Australian fairy-wrens.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host response to cuckoo song is predicted by the future risk of brood parasitism

et al. 2013

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IntroductionRisk assessment occurs over different temporal and spatial scales and is selected for when individuals show an adaptive response to a threat. Here, we test if birds respond to the threat of brood parasitism using the acoustical cues of brood parasites in the absence of visual stimuli. We broadcast the playback of song of three brood parasites (Chalcites cuckoo species) and a sympatric non-parasite (striated thornbill, Acanthiza lineata) in the territories of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) during the peak breeding period and opportunistic breeding period. The three cuckoo species differ in brood parasite prevalence and the probability of detection by the host, which we used to rank the risk of parasitism (high risk, moderate risk, low risk).ResultsHost birds showed the strongest response to the threat of cuckoo parasitism in accordance with the risk of parasitism. Resident wrens had many alarm calls and close and rapid approach to the playback speaker that was broadcasting song of the high risk brood parasite (Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo, C. basalis) across the year (peak and opportunistic breeding period), some response to the moderate risk brood parasite (shining bronze-cuckoo, C. lucidus) during the peak breeding period, and the weakest response to the low risk brood parasite (little bronze-cuckoo, C. minutillus). Playback of the familiar control stimulus in wren territories evoked the least response.ConclusionHost response to the threat of cuckoo parasitism was assessed using vocal cues of the cuckoo and was predicted by the risk of future parasitism.

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“…2010), and those that occur in savanna as well as mangrove habitats of the southern Gulf region, e.g. Little Bronze‐Cuckoos ( Chalcites minutillus ; Joseph et al. 2011), show little or no population differentiation across the Carpentarian Barrier.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the effect of transient Plio-Pleistocene barriers in monsoonal Australo-Papua: did mangrove habitats maintain genetic connectivity in the Black Butcherbird?

et al. 2011

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Changes in climate and sea level are hypothesized to have promoted the diversification of biota in monsoonal Australia and New Guinea by causing repeated range disjunctions and restricting gene flow between isolated populations. Using a multilocus (one mtDNA locus, five nuclear introns) phylogeographic approach, we test whether populations of the mangrove and rainforest restricted Black Butcherbird (Cracticus quoyi) have diverged across several geographic barriers defined a priori for this region. Phylogeographic structure and estimates of divergence times revealed Plio-Pleistocene divergences and long-term restricted gene flow of populations on either side of four major geographic barriers between and within Australia and New Guinea. Overall, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that mesic-adapted species did not disperse across the open dry woodlands and grasslands that dominated the transient palaeo-landbridges during the Plio-Pleistocene despite the presence of mangrove forests that might have acted as dispersal corridors for mesic-adapted species. Our study offers one of the first multilocus perspectives on the impact of changes in climate and sea level on the population history of widespread species with disjunct ranges in Australia and New Guinea.

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Phylogeography and taxonomy of the Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites minutillus) in Australia's monsoon tropics

Cited by 15 publications

References 36 publications

Differing impact of a major biogeographic barrier on genetic structure in two large kangaroos from the monsoon tropics of Northern Australia

Differing impact of a major biogeographic barrier on genetic structure in two large kangaroos from the monsoon tropics of Northern Australia

Host response to cuckoo song is predicted by the future risk of brood parasitism

Testing the effect of transient Plio-Pleistocene barriers in monsoonal Australo-Papua: did mangrove habitats maintain genetic connectivity in the Black Butcherbird?

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