Environmental correlates of genetic variation in the invasive and
largely panmictic European starling in North America
Abstract
Populations of invasive species that colonize and spread in novel
environments may differentiate both through demographic processes and
local selection. European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were
introduced to New York in 1890 and subsequently spread throughout North
America, becoming one of the most widespread and numerous bird species
on the continent. Genome-wide comparisons across starling individuals
and populations can identify demographic and/or selective factors that
facilitated this rapid and successful expansion. We investigated
patterns of genomic diversity and differentiation using
reduced-representation genome sequencing (ddRADseq) of 17 winter-season
starling populations. Consistent with this species’ high dispersal rate
and rapid expansion history, we found low geographic differentiation and
few FST outliers even at a continental scale. Despite starting from a
founding population of approximately 180 individuals, North American
starlings show only a moderate genetic bottleneck, and models suggest a
dramatic increase in effective population size since introduction. In
genotype-environment associations we found that ~200
single-nucleotide polymorphisms are correlated with temperature and/or
precipitation against a background of negligible genome- and range-wide
divergence. Local adaptation in North American starlings may have
evolved rapidly even in this wide-ranging and evolutionarily young
population. This survey of genomic signatures of expansion in North
American starlings is the most comprehensive to date and complements
ongoing studies of world-wide local adaptation in these highly
dispersive and invasive birds.