Genomic variation, population history and within-archipelago adaptation between island bird populations

• Published in: Royal Society Open Science
• Main Authors: Martin, Claudia A., Armstrong, Claire, Illera, Juan Carlos, Emerson, Brent C., Richardson, David S., Spurgin, Lewis G.
• Other Authors: Natural Environment Research Council, British Ecological Society, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Norwich Research Park Science Links
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2021
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201146; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.201146; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.201146

Oceanic island archipelagos provide excellent models to understand evolutionary processes. Colonization events and gene flow can interact with selection to shape genetic variation at different spatial scales. Landscape-scale variation in biotic and abiotic factors may drive fine-scale selection within islands, while long-term evolutionary processes may drive divergence between distantly related populations. Here, we examine patterns of population history and selection between recently diverged populations of the Berthelot's pipit ( Anthus berthelotii ), a passerine endemic to three North Atlantic archipelagos. First, we use demographic trees and f 3 statistics to show that genome-wide divergence across the species range is largely shaped by colonization and bottlenecks, with evidence of very weak gene flow between populations. Then, using a genome scan approach, we identify signatures of divergent selection within archipelagos at single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes potentially associated with craniofacial development and DNA repair. We did not detect within-archipelago selection at the same SNPs as were detected previously at broader spatial scales between archipelagos, but did identify signatures of selection at loci associated with similar biological functions. These findings suggest that similar ecological factors may repeatedly drive selection between recently separated populations, as well as at broad spatial scales across varied landscapes.