TY - JOUR

T1 - The formation of the Indo-Pacific montane avifauna

AU - Reeve, Andrew Hart

AU - Kennedy, Jonathan David

AU - Pujolar, José Martín

AU - Petersen, Bent

AU - Blom, Mozes P. K.

AU - Alström, Per

AU - Haryoko, Tri

AU - Ericson, Per G. P.

AU - Irestedt, Martin

AU - Nylander, Johan A. A.

AU - Jønsson, Knud Andreas

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The processes generating the earth’s montane biodiversity remain a matter of debate. Two contrasting hypotheses have been advanced to explain how montane populations form: via direct colonization from other mountains, or, alternatively, via upslope range shifts from adjacent lowland areas. We seek to reconcile these apparently conflicting hypotheses by asking whether a species’ ancestral geographic origin determines its mode of mountain colonization. Island-dwelling passerine birds at the faunal crossroads between Eurasia and Australo-Papua provide an ideal study system. We recover the phylogenetic relationships of the region’s montane species and reconstruct their ancestral geographic ranges, elevational ranges, and migratory behavior. We also perform genomic population studies of three super-dispersive montane species/clades with broad island distributions. Eurasian-origin species populated archipelagos via direct colonization between mountains. This mode of colonization appears related to ancestral adaptations to cold and seasonal climates, specifically short-distance migration. Australo-Papuan-origin mountain populations, by contrast, evolved from lowland ancestors, and highland distribution mostly precludes their further colonization of island mountains. Our study explains much of the distributional variation within a complex biological system, and provides a synthesis of two seemingly discordant hypotheses for montane community formation.

AB - The processes generating the earth’s montane biodiversity remain a matter of debate. Two contrasting hypotheses have been advanced to explain how montane populations form: via direct colonization from other mountains, or, alternatively, via upslope range shifts from adjacent lowland areas. We seek to reconcile these apparently conflicting hypotheses by asking whether a species’ ancestral geographic origin determines its mode of mountain colonization. Island-dwelling passerine birds at the faunal crossroads between Eurasia and Australo-Papua provide an ideal study system. We recover the phylogenetic relationships of the region’s montane species and reconstruct their ancestral geographic ranges, elevational ranges, and migratory behavior. We also perform genomic population studies of three super-dispersive montane species/clades with broad island distributions. Eurasian-origin species populated archipelagos via direct colonization between mountains. This mode of colonization appears related to ancestral adaptations to cold and seasonal climates, specifically short-distance migration. Australo-Papuan-origin mountain populations, by contrast, evolved from lowland ancestors, and highland distribution mostly precludes their further colonization of island mountains. Our study explains much of the distributional variation within a complex biological system, and provides a synthesis of two seemingly discordant hypotheses for montane community formation.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-023-43964-y

DO - 10.1038/s41467-023-43964-y

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38081809

AN - SCOPUS:85179307647

VL - 14

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 8215

ER -