Abstract
AbstractAimThe conservation of biodiversity is hampered by data deficiencies, with many new species and subspecies awaiting description or reclassification. Population genomics and ecological niche modelling offer complementary new tools for uncovering functional units of phylogenetic diversity. We hypothesize that phylogenetically delineated lineages of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) distributed across Antarctica and sub‐Antarctic Islands are subject to spatially explicit ecological conditions that have limited gene flow, facilitating genetic differentiation, and thereby speciation processes.LocationAntarctica and sub‐Antarctic area.MethodsWe identify divergent lineages for gentoo penguins using ddRAD‐seq and mtDNA, and generated species distribution models (SDMs) based on terrestrial and marine parameters.ResultsAnalyses of our genomic data supports the existence of four major lineages of gentoo penguin: (i) spanning the sub‐Antarctic archipelagos north of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF); (ii) Kerguelen Island; (iii) South America; and (iv) across maritime Antarctic and the Scotia Arc archipelagos. The APF, a major current system around Antarctica, acts as the most important barrier separating regional sister lineages. Our ecological analyses spanning both the terrestrial (breeding sites) and marine (feeding sites) realms recover limited niche overlap among the major lineages of gentoo penguin. We observe this pattern to correspond more closely with regional differentiation of marine conditions than to terrestrial macroenvironmental features.Main conclusionsRecognition of regional genetic lineages as discrete evolutionary entities that occupy distinct ecological niches and also differ morphologically should be considered a priority for conservation. Gentoo penguins provide a good example of how conservation policy can be directly impacted by new insights obtained through the integration of larger genomic datasets with novel approaches to ecological modelling. This is particularly pertinent to polar environments that are among the most rapidly changing environments on earth.
Highlights
Evolutionary ecology aims to elucidate the spatial pattern of intraspecific genetic diversity and the evolutionary and ecological processes that underpin such patterns
Analyses of our genomic data supports the existence of four major lineages of gentoo penguin: (i) spanning the sub-Antarctic archipelagos north of the Antarctic Polar Front (APF); (ii) Kerguelen Island; (iii) South America; and (iv) across maritime Antarctic and the Scotia Arc archipelagos
This is pertinent to polar environments that are among the most rapidly changing environments on earth
Summary
Evolutionary ecology aims to elucidate the spatial pattern of intraspecific genetic diversity and the evolutionary and ecological processes that underpin such patterns. Biodiversity conservation is hampered by such data deficiencies that limit our understanding of the evolutionary patterns and processes that give rise to biodiversity, a situation referred to as the “Darwinian shortfall” (Diniz-Filho et al, 2013) In this context, new techniques for studying population-level genomics and spatial variation of the ecological niche offer complementary tools for uncovering functional units of phylogenetic diversity that have heretofore been obscured (Chen et al, 2019; Pahad et al, 2019). An increasing number of studies have revealed that the macrofauna of the Southern Ocean shows contrasting patterns of intra-specific diversity, from the existence of single evolutionary units distributed all the way around Antarctica (Cristofari et al, 2016; Díaz et al, 2011) and/or throughout sub-Antarctica, to a multitude of geographic clades, each restricted to a specific area (González-Wevar et al, 2019) Such endemism suggests that the isolation of populations has led to diversification through vicariance after colonization (Chenuil et al, 2018; Halanych & Mahon, 2018; Price, 2007). The inter-regional differentiation of their ecological niches can result in shifts in allele frequency among populations that may lead to local adaptation, and given sufficient time, to speciation (De Queiroz, 2007; Graham et al, 2004)
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