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Patterns of at-sea behaviour at a hybrid zone between two threatened seabirds

Patterns of at-sea behaviour at a hybrid zone between two threatened seabirds
Patterns of at-sea behaviour at a hybrid zone between two threatened seabirds
Patterns of behavioural variation and migratory connectivity are important characteristics of populations, particularly at the edges of species distributions, where processes involved in influencing evolutionary trajectories, such as divergence, mutual persistence, and natural hybridization, can occur. Here, we focused on two closely related seabird species that breed in the Mediterranean: Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) and Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan). Genetic and phenotypic evidence of hybridization between the two species on Menorca (the eastern and westernmost island in the breeding ranges of the two shearwaters, respectively) has provided important insights into relationships between these recently diverged species. Nevertheless, levels of behavioural and ecological differentiation amongst these populations remain largely unknown. Using geolocation and stable isotopes, we compared the at-sea movement behaviour of birds from the Menorcan ‘hybrid’ population with the nearest neighbouring populations of Balearic and Yelkouan shearwaters. The Menorcan population displayed a suite of behavioural features intermediate to those seen in the two species (including migration strategies, breeding season movements and limited data on phenology). Our findings provide new evidence to support suggestions that the Menorcan population is admixed, and indicate a role of non-breeding behaviours in the evolutionary trajectories of Puffinus shearwaters in the Mediterranean.
2045-2322
Austin, Rhiannon E.
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Wynn, Russell B.
72ccd765-9240-45f8-9951-4552b497475a
Votier, Stephen C.
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Trueman, Clive
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Mcminn, Miguel
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Rodríguez, Ana
89d6f61e-13d7-4f8a-8a4e-2f054d0c572f
Suberg, Lavinia
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Maurice, Louise
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Newton, Jason
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Genovart, Meritxell
a77ebf2c-ac1c-4ea9-b5e7-75b50c0e56f1
Péron, Clara
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Grémillet, David
bd2ab5f9-0a34-4454-b011-ee385f1a3876
Guilford, Tim
6f814dc8-b32a-4dab-9ff2-785e82395657
Austin, Rhiannon E.
86b2d6ff-538a-486e-bf77-ecfa34ab2617
Wynn, Russell B.
72ccd765-9240-45f8-9951-4552b497475a
Votier, Stephen C.
b3f149e2-0fa4-4ca3-a2ae-6f3151295af3
Trueman, Clive
d00d3bd6-a47b-4d47-89ae-841c3d506205
Mcminn, Miguel
2e074f1f-1934-42a1-be35-67d42a3984f4
Rodríguez, Ana
89d6f61e-13d7-4f8a-8a4e-2f054d0c572f
Suberg, Lavinia
9b185258-8bb2-4771-a767-5b446ecb6d56
Maurice, Louise
e5f0825d-3e5e-4ff3-81a1-2426df513866
Newton, Jason
0d986c1e-4ecf-4854-aced-0197cf446ce0
Genovart, Meritxell
a77ebf2c-ac1c-4ea9-b5e7-75b50c0e56f1
Péron, Clara
47212af2-7cb9-49e8-aada-05275fedbe5e
Grémillet, David
bd2ab5f9-0a34-4454-b011-ee385f1a3876
Guilford, Tim
6f814dc8-b32a-4dab-9ff2-785e82395657

Austin, Rhiannon E., Wynn, Russell B., Votier, Stephen C., Trueman, Clive, Mcminn, Miguel, Rodríguez, Ana, Suberg, Lavinia, Maurice, Louise, Newton, Jason, Genovart, Meritxell, Péron, Clara, Grémillet, David and Guilford, Tim (2019) Patterns of at-sea behaviour at a hybrid zone between two threatened seabirds. Scientific Reports, 9 (1), [14720]. (doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51188-8).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Patterns of behavioural variation and migratory connectivity are important characteristics of populations, particularly at the edges of species distributions, where processes involved in influencing evolutionary trajectories, such as divergence, mutual persistence, and natural hybridization, can occur. Here, we focused on two closely related seabird species that breed in the Mediterranean: Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) and Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan). Genetic and phenotypic evidence of hybridization between the two species on Menorca (the eastern and westernmost island in the breeding ranges of the two shearwaters, respectively) has provided important insights into relationships between these recently diverged species. Nevertheless, levels of behavioural and ecological differentiation amongst these populations remain largely unknown. Using geolocation and stable isotopes, we compared the at-sea movement behaviour of birds from the Menorcan ‘hybrid’ population with the nearest neighbouring populations of Balearic and Yelkouan shearwaters. The Menorcan population displayed a suite of behavioural features intermediate to those seen in the two species (including migration strategies, breeding season movements and limited data on phenology). Our findings provide new evidence to support suggestions that the Menorcan population is admixed, and indicate a role of non-breeding behaviours in the evolutionary trajectories of Puffinus shearwaters in the Mediterranean.

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Accepted/In Press date: 23 September 2019
Published date: 11 October 2019

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 435971
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435971
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: 391a7625-10a4-4c24-9eac-c9d74a705988
ORCID for Clive Trueman: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4995-736X

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Date deposited: 25 Nov 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:58

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Contributors

Author: Rhiannon E. Austin
Author: Russell B. Wynn
Author: Stephen C. Votier
Author: Clive Trueman ORCID iD
Author: Miguel Mcminn
Author: Ana Rodríguez
Author: Lavinia Suberg
Author: Louise Maurice
Author: Jason Newton
Author: Meritxell Genovart
Author: Clara Péron
Author: David Grémillet
Author: Tim Guilford

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