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Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species

BACKGROUND: Environmental preferences and past climatic changes may determine the length of time during which a species range has contracted or expanded from refugia, thereby influencing levels of genetic diversification. Connectivity among populations of steppe-associated taxa might have been maxim...

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Autores principales: Garcia, Jesus T, Alda, Fernando, Terraube, Julien, Mougeot, François, Sternalski, Audrey, Bretagnolle, Vincent, Arroyo, Beatriz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3235524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22093489
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-333
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author Garcia, Jesus T
Alda, Fernando
Terraube, Julien
Mougeot, François
Sternalski, Audrey
Bretagnolle, Vincent
Arroyo, Beatriz
author_facet Garcia, Jesus T
Alda, Fernando
Terraube, Julien
Mougeot, François
Sternalski, Audrey
Bretagnolle, Vincent
Arroyo, Beatriz
author_sort Garcia, Jesus T
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Environmental preferences and past climatic changes may determine the length of time during which a species range has contracted or expanded from refugia, thereby influencing levels of genetic diversification. Connectivity among populations of steppe-associated taxa might have been maximal during the long glacial periods, and interrupted only during the shorter interglacial phases, potentially resulting in low levels of genetic differentiation among populations. We investigated this hypothesis by exploring patterns of genetic diversity, past demography and gene flow in a raptor species characteristic of steppes, the Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), using mitochondrial DNA data from 13 breeding populations and two wintering populations. RESULTS: Consistent with our hypothesis, Montagu's harrier has relatively low genetic variation at the mitochondrial DNA. The highest levels of genetic diversity were found in coastal Spain, France and central Asia. These areas, which were open landscapes during the Holocene, may have acted as refugia when most of the European continent was covered by forests. We found significant genetic differentiation between two population groups, at the SW and NE parts of the species' range. Two events of past population growth were detected, and occurred ca. 7500-5500 and ca. 3500-1000 years BP in the SW and NE part of the range respectively. These events were likely associated with vegetation shifts caused by climate and human-induced changes during the Holocene. CONCLUSIONS: The relative genetic homogeneity observed across populations of this steppe raptor may be explained by a short isolation time, relatively recent population expansions and a relaxed philopatry. We highlight the importance of considering the consequence of isolation and colonization processes in order to better understand the evolutionary history of steppe species.
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spelling pubmed-32355242011-12-12 Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species Garcia, Jesus T Alda, Fernando Terraube, Julien Mougeot, François Sternalski, Audrey Bretagnolle, Vincent Arroyo, Beatriz BMC Evol Biol Research Article BACKGROUND: Environmental preferences and past climatic changes may determine the length of time during which a species range has contracted or expanded from refugia, thereby influencing levels of genetic diversification. Connectivity among populations of steppe-associated taxa might have been maximal during the long glacial periods, and interrupted only during the shorter interglacial phases, potentially resulting in low levels of genetic differentiation among populations. We investigated this hypothesis by exploring patterns of genetic diversity, past demography and gene flow in a raptor species characteristic of steppes, the Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), using mitochondrial DNA data from 13 breeding populations and two wintering populations. RESULTS: Consistent with our hypothesis, Montagu's harrier has relatively low genetic variation at the mitochondrial DNA. The highest levels of genetic diversity were found in coastal Spain, France and central Asia. These areas, which were open landscapes during the Holocene, may have acted as refugia when most of the European continent was covered by forests. We found significant genetic differentiation between two population groups, at the SW and NE parts of the species' range. Two events of past population growth were detected, and occurred ca. 7500-5500 and ca. 3500-1000 years BP in the SW and NE part of the range respectively. These events were likely associated with vegetation shifts caused by climate and human-induced changes during the Holocene. CONCLUSIONS: The relative genetic homogeneity observed across populations of this steppe raptor may be explained by a short isolation time, relatively recent population expansions and a relaxed philopatry. We highlight the importance of considering the consequence of isolation and colonization processes in order to better understand the evolutionary history of steppe species. BioMed Central 2011-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC3235524/ /pubmed/22093489 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-333 Text en Copyright ©2011 Garcia et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Garcia, Jesus T
Alda, Fernando
Terraube, Julien
Mougeot, François
Sternalski, Audrey
Bretagnolle, Vincent
Arroyo, Beatriz
Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title_full Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title_fullStr Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title_full_unstemmed Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title_short Demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
title_sort demographic history, genetic structure and gene flow in a steppe-associated raptor species
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3235524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22093489
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-333
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