Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Volume
2
First Page
332
DOI
10.1038/ncomms1330
Disciplines
Biology | Marine Biology
Abstract
Pelagic seabirds are highly mobile, reducing the likelihood of allopatric speciation where disruption of gene flow between populations is caused by physically insurmountable, extrinsic barriers. Spatial segregation during the non-breeding season appears to provide an intrinsic barrier to gene flow among seabird populations that otherwise occupy nearby or overlapping regions during breeding, but how this is achieved remains unclear. Here we show that the two genetically distinct populations of Cook's petrel (Pterodroma cookii) exhibit transequatorial separation of non-breeding ranges at contemporary (ca. 2–3 yrs) and historical (ca. 100 yrs) time scales. Segregation during the non-breeding season per se appears as an unlikely barrier to gene flow. Instead we provide evidence that habitat specialization during the non-breeding season is associated with breeding asynchrony which, in conjunction with philopatry, restricts gene flow. Habitat specialization during breeding and non-breeding likely promotes evolutionary divergence between these two populations via local adaptation.
Recommended Citation
M J. Rayner, M E. Hauber, T E. Steeves, H A. Lawrence, D R. Thompson, P M. Sagar, S J. Bury, R A. Phillips, T J. Landers, L Ranjard, and Scott A. Shaffer. "Contemporary and historical separation of transequatorial migration between genetically distinct seabird populations" Nature Communications (2011): 332. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1330
Comments
Copyright © 2001 Scott Shaffer. The article was originally published in Nature Communications and may be found online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1330.