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Limited movement of an avian hybrid zone in relation to regional variation in magnitude of climate change
  • +2
  • Alana Alexander,
  • Mark Robbins,
  • Jesse Holmes,
  • Robert Moyle,
  • Townsend Peterson
Alana Alexander
The University of Kansas

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Mark Robbins
The University of Kansas
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Jesse Holmes
The University of Kansas
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Robert Moyle
The University of Kansas
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Townsend Peterson
The University of Kansas
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Abstract

Studies of natural hybrid zones can provide documentation of range shifts in response to climate change and identify loci important to reproductive isolation. Using a deep temporal (36-38 years) comparison of the black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina (P. carolinensis) chickadee hybrid zone, we investigated movement of the western portion of the zone (western Missouri) and assessed whether loci and pathways underpinning reproductive isolation were similar to those in the eastern portion of the hybrid zone. Using 92 birds sampled along the hybrid zone transect in 2016 and 68 birds sampled between 1978 and 1980, we generated 11,669 SNPs via ddRADseq. These SNPs were used to assess movement of the hybrid zone through time and to evaluate variation in introgression among loci. We demonstrate that the interface has moved ~5 km to the northwest over the last 36-38 years, i.e., at only one-fifth the rate at which the eastern portion (e.g., Pennsylvania, Ohio) of the hybrid zone has moved. Temperature trends over the last 38 years reveal that eastern areas have warmed 50% more than western areas in terms of annual mean temperature, possibly providing an explanation for the slower movement of the hybrid zone in Missouri. Our results suggest hybrid zone movement in broadly distributed species, such as chickadees, will vary between areas in response to local differences in the impacts of climate change.
03 Aug 2022Submitted to Molecular Ecology
09 Aug 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
31 Aug 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
01 Sep 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
26 Sep 2022Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
26 Sep 20221st Revision Received
28 Sep 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
21 Oct 2022Published in Molecular Ecology. 10.1111/mec.16727