Does ecological specificity predict patterns of genetic diversity, differentiation, and divergence in a Central American assemblage?

AOS Research Grant Seminar

Presenter: Jack Hruska, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; 2020 AOS Alexander Wetmore Memorial Research Grant winner

Ecological interactions have been shown to be predictive of genetic diversity and divergence. Until recently, these traits were largely ignored by the field of comparative phylogeography, which seeks to explain the biotic and abiotic factors that determine population persistence across landscapes. Employing a comparative phylogeographic approach, we test the predictions of the specialist-generalist variation hypothesis (SGVH) and ask if habitat specificity is predictive of genetic diversity, differentiation, and divergence, in an assemblage of co-distributed birds of northern Central America. While we do not find strong support for the predictions of the SGVH, we find diversity and differentiation patterns to suggest that ecological specificity is somewhat predictive of genetic outcomes across this assemblage.