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Demographic history inferred from genome‐wide data reveals two lineages of sheldgeese endemic to a glacial refugium in the southern Atlantic
Author(s) -
Kopuchian Cecilia,
Campagna Leonardo,
Di Giacomo Adrián S.,
Wilson Robert E.,
Bulgarella Mariana,
Petracci Pablo,
Mazar Barnett Juan,
Matus Ricardo,
Blank Olivia,
McCracken Kevin G.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1111/jbi.12767
Subject(s) - refugium (fishkeeping) , archipelago , coalescent theory , glacial period , ecology , pleistocene , biology , population , last glacial maximum , phylogeography , demographic history , endemism , extinction (optical mineralogy) , geography , zoology , paleontology , genetic diversity , phylogenetics , habitat , biochemistry , demography , sociology , gene
Aim The Malvinas/Falkland Islands ( MFI ) constitute the largest archipelago in the southern Atlantic, and harbour endemic lineages that presumably evolved after sea‐level rise, associated with glacial periods, isolated ancestral populations. We investigate the role of the MFI in isolating populations from continental counterparts of two highly vagile species: the sheldgeese Chloephaga picta and Chloephaga rubidiceps . Location Patagonia and the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. Methods We sampled C. picta and C. rubidiceps on the continent and MFI . Using a reduced‐representation genomic approach, we quantified the genetic differentiation between insular and continental populations of both species, and used coalescent‐based analyses to model their demography. Results The MFI harbour independently evolving lineages of C. picta and C. rubidiceps , which diverged from their continental counterparts during the Middle‐Late Pleistocene and have since experienced negligible gene flow. Main conclusions The c . 450 km that separate the archipelago from the continent are sufficient to isolate populations of these putatively highly vagile species. Ancestral lineages may have reached the MFI refugium during glacial cycles. Without conservation measures, the drastic decline of the morphologically, behaviourally and ecologically distinct continental population of C. rubidiceps , to < 1000 individuals, may lead to the extinction of an independently evolving taxon.