Phylogeography of willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) in the Arctic: taxonomic discordance as inferred from molecular data

Abstract

Using independently segregating nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mitochondrial control region sequences, we found an east–west division among sampled willow grouse Lagopus lagopus subspecies. This division cut across the range of the subspecies with the largest distribution (lagopus) and thus contradicted existing taxonomic classifications. Russian Lagopus lagopus lagopus tended to cluster with North American willow grouse partly classified as other subspecies. Scandinavian willow grouse (L. l. lagopus) clustered with red grouse from Britain and Ireland (Lagopus lagopus scoticus and Lagopus lagopus hibernicus) but substructuring confirmed the monophyly of the latter. In North America, we could not detect any major genetic divisions apart from two birds described as alexandrae from the Heceta Island (Alaska) when using mitochondrial sequences. Other samples from North America were intermingled regardless of whether they were described as muriei, alexandrae or lagopus. A specimen described as alexandrae was to some extent distinct when analysing the SNP data. The genetic analyses indicated some concordance between genetics and taxonomy but not complete congruence. This is particularly evident for mitochondrial DNA network analyses. We suggest that the taxonomy of this species would benefit by a careful re‐examination of the available evidence for subspecies. It appears as if subspecies status is a poor proxy for assigning evolutionary significant units and management units in this species. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110, 77–90.

Genetic differentiation of western capercaillie in the Carpathian Mountains: the importance of post glacial expansions and habitat connectivity

“…Contradicting taxonomic classification in subspecies level of another Tetraoninae species was revealed in willow grouse ( Lagopus sp.) (Höglund et al ., ).…”

Range shifts or extinction? Ancient DNA and distribution modelling reveal past and future responses to climate warming in cold‐adapted birds

“…Morphological analyses of fossil remains of the two sister species have shown that both were morphologically distinct and probably had greater body weights than their modern counterparts (Bochenski, ; Potapova, ; Stewart, ). However, it has not yet been established whether these populations represented specialized lineages that went extinct during end‐Pleistocene climate warming, approximately 10 thousand years ago, or if the glacial populations in fact are the direct ancestors of modern European L. lagopus and L. muta (Höglund et al ., ).…”

Past and potential future population dynamics of three grouse species using ecological and whole genome coalescent modeling

“…Moreover, the red grouse subspecies shows an identical pattern to the Norwegian sample, thus corroborating the shared history between the British red grouse and Scandinavian willow grouse (Höglund et al., 2013). We were also able to show that following the LIG, the method does indeed capture lineage‐specific population dynamics.…”

“…This is seen in the divergent population size trajectories of willow grouse samples originating in Scandinavia and Britain versus Siberia and Alaska. This result further validates the observed genetic substructuring within the L. lagopus lagopus clade, where the Russian individuals cluster closer to the North American willow grouse ( L. lagopus muriei and L. lagopus alexandrae ) than to the Scandinavian willow grouse (Höglund et al., 2013). In fact, the overall similarity between the Siberian and Alaskan trajectories with the major exception being the much larger bottleneck in the Alaskan sample points to the recolonization of Alaska by the Siberian individuals during the last ice age.…”

“…Both willow grouse and rock ptarmigan are cold‐adapted species living all year round in the arctic tundra of the Holarctic (Höglund, Wang, Axelsson, & Quintela, 2013; Holder, Montgomerie, & Friesen, 1999). The black grouse has a more southern distribution, inhabiting boreal forest edges, bogs, and moorland throughout the Palearctic (Corrales & Höglund, 2012).…”