CONCLUSIONS
We sequenced whole genomes at low to moderate coverage for two populations each of six montane forest bird species, to test if the Great Rift Valley (GRV) is a barrier to dispersal in a taxonomic group with relatively high dispersal ability. We found that we were able to distinguish individuals from either side of the GRV using genetic clustering and phylogenomic methods. The magnitude of genetic differentiation varied by species, with relatively poorer dispersers generally exhibiting higher amounts of genetic differentiation. Additionally, isolation with migration models indicated varied patterns of connectivity and divergence over the past 350,000 years among these six taxa. We found that each species generally had unique demographic histories, with some species exhibiting different demographic histories on either side of the GRV. Lastly, we found that demographic history explained more than 80% of the variance in genomic diversity across samples, while dispersal ability was not correlated with genomic diversity.