scholarly journals Landscape and climatic variations of the Quaternary shaped multiple secondary contacts among barn owls (Tyto alba) of the Western Palearctic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Cumer ◽  
Ana Paula Machado ◽  
Guillaume Dumont ◽  
Vasileios Bontzorlos ◽  
Renato Ceccherelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contact Zone ◽  
Population Genomics ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
Western Palearctic ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
History Of

The combined actions of climatic variations and landscape barriers shape the history of natural populations. When organisms follow their shifting niches, obstacles in the landscape can lead to the splitting of populations, on which evolution will then act independently. When two such populations are reunited, secondary contact occurs in a broad range of admixture patterns, from narrow hybrid zones to the complete dissolution of lineages. A previous study suggested that barn owls colonized the Western Palearctic after the last glaciation in a ring-like fashion around the Mediterranean Sea, and conjectured an admixture zone in the Balkans. Here, we take advantage of whole-genome sequences of 94 individuals across the Western Palearctic to reveal the complex history of the species in the region using observational and modeling approaches. Even though our results confirm that two distinct lineages colonized the region, one in Europe and one in the Levant, they suggest that it predates the last glaciation and identify a narrow secondary contact zone between the two in Anatolia. Nonetheless, we also show that barn owls re-colonized Europe after the glaciation from two distinct glacial refugia: a western one in Iberia and an eastern one in Italy. Both glacial lineages now communicate via eastern Europe, in a wide and permeable contact zone. This complex history of populations enlightens the taxonomy of Tyto alba in the region, highlights the key role played by mountain ranges and large water bodies as barriers and illustrates the power of population genomics in uncovering intricate demographic patterns.

Late Quaternary micromammals and the precipitation history of the southern Cape, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 848-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Brian M. Chase ◽  
D. Margaret Avery
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Winter Rainfall ◽  
Rainfall Seasonality ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe southern Cape of South Africa is important to understanding regional climate because it straddles the transition between the winter and summer rainfall zones. We examine late Quaternary changes in rainfall seasonality and aridity through analysis of micromammal assemblages from three sites: Boomplaas Cave and Nelson Bay Cave in the aseasonal rainfall zone and Byneskranskop 1 in the winter rainfall zone. Our interpretation is based on analysis of 123 modern micromammal assemblages accumulated by barn owls (Tyto alba), which empirically links species composition to climate. The Pleistocene record (∼65 to 12 ka) from Boomplaas Cave, together with the last glacial maximum (LGM) samples from Nelson Bay Cave, indicates enhanced winter rainfall, especially during the LGM. Boomplaas Cave documents progressive aridification from the LGM to the earliest Holocene, followed by a return to moderately humid conditions through the Holocene. Byneskranskop 1 indicates a dominance of winter rains over the last 17 ka and a shift from an arid middle Holocene to a humid later Holocene. Agreement between the micromammal record and other local and regional proxies reinforces the potential of southern African micromammal assemblages as paleoclimate indicators.

Numts help to reconstruct the demographic history of the ocellated lizard (Lacerta lepida) in a secondary contact zone

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1005-1018 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREIA MIRALDO ◽  
GODFREY M. HEWITT ◽  
PAUL H. DEAR ◽  
OCTAVIO S. PAULO ◽  
BRENT C. EMERSON
Keyword(s):  
Contact Zone ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
History Of ◽  
Secondary Contact Zone

scholarly journals Distribution and variation of mice of the Sylvaemus microps & uralensis group in Eastern Europe: fragmentation and clines

2021 ◽  
Vol 2020 (20) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Igor Zagorodniuk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Clinal Variation ◽  
The South ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Western Palearctic ◽  
Taxonomic History ◽  
History Of

The species names Sylvaemus microps and Sylvaemus uralensis are markers of the two key stages in the recognition of the taxonomic heterogeneity of Sylvaemus sylvaticus (s. str.), to which they have long been included. The first was described in 1952 from Central Europe, while the second 140 years earlier (1818) from the Southern Urals. Both taxa have undergone a complicated taxonomic history and are now considered conspecific. However, there are some gaps between them, in particular geographic ones. They are considered here as two groups of populations: a western (microps) and an eastern (uralensis). The taxonomic history of wood mice of the group Apodemus microps & Sylvaemus uralensis and the history of increase in knowledge on their distribution are considered. An analysis of geographic variability of key diagnostic characters of the species was carried out, which revealed a quite well-expressed morphological homogeneity. Within the Western Palearctic populations, there is a clear clinal variation from relatively large southern and eastern to small northern and western forms. Geographic range analysis shows the presence of several relatively isolated fragments of the range, including a clear gap between the western forms of the microps group (Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Western Carpathians region) and the eastern forms of the uralensis group (from the Dnipro region and Baltic states to the Urals, including the Caucasus and Asia Minor). Proposals to recognise the specific level of differentiation between the northern and southern forms seem far too hypothetical, as well as the idea to assign the Caucasian form (ciscaucasicus) to the Central European microps and the Crimean form (baessleri) to the Upper Volga mosquensis. In general, the available data indicate differences between the western and eastern forms of Sylvaemus uralensis. Detailed information on marginal records of the two groups of populations is given, including the easternmost (essentially north-eastern) findings of the microps group and the westernmost findings of the uralensis group. There is a significant geographic gap between these two forms covering the entire area of Volyn, Podillia, Western and Central Polissia, but narrowing to the south, towards the Black Sea. Connection between the two range fragments may exist in the south, but the available and verified data essentially show a gap across the interfluve between the Dnister and Tyligul rivers.

scholarly journals Genomic bases of insularity and ecological divergence in barn owls (Tyto alba) of the Canary Islands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Cumer ◽  
Ana Paula Machado ◽  
Felipe Siverio ◽  
Sidi Imad Cherkaoui ◽  
Inês Roque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Canary Islands ◽  
Population Genomics ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Hot Arid Climate ◽  
Barn Owls ◽  
Genomics Tools ◽  
Genomic Regions ◽  
Modern Population

Islands, and the particular organisms that populate them, have long fascinated biologists. Due to their isolation, islands offer unique opportunities to study the effect of neutral and adaptive mechanisms in determining genomic and phenotypical divergence. In the Canary Islands, an archipelago rich in endemics, the barn owl (Tyto alba) is thought to have diverged into a subspecies (T. a. gracilirostris) on the eastern islands, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Taking advantage of 40 whole-genomes and modern population genomics tools, we provide the first look at the origin and genetic makeup of barn owls of this archipelago. We show that the Canaries hold diverse, long-standing and monophyletic populations with a neat distinction of gene pools from the different islands. Using new method, less sensitive to structure than classical FST, to detect regions involved in local adaptation to the insular environment, we identified a haplotype-like region likely under positive selection in all Canaries individuals. Genes in this region suggest morphological adaptations to insularity. In the eastern islands, where the subspecies T. a. gracilirostris is present, genomic traces of selection pinpoint signs of locally adapted body proportions and blood pressure, consistent with the smaller size of this population living in a hot arid climate. In turn, genomic regions under selection in the western barn owls from Tenerife showed an enrichment in genes linked to hypoxia, a potential response to inhabiting a small island with a marked altitudinal gradient. Our results illustrate the interplay of neutral and adaptive forces in shaping divergence and early onset speciation.

A Russian Island in the Orthodox East: Mount Athos in the 19th – early 20th Centuries

2018 ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
Лора Герд ◽  
Lora Gerd
Keyword(s):  
The Balkans ◽  
Special Place ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich

Mount Athos holds a special place in the East Christian world. The Russian monastery foun-ded in the 11th century experienced its height in the 19th – early 20th centuries, when it received an official title “Russian” and its brethren numbered up to 1800 people. The deep respect towards the Holy Mount in Russia, the diplomatic support from the Russian Embassy at Constantinople and the rich donations contributed to the prosperity of “Russian Athos”. The systematic indepth study of the sources made it possible to rewrite the history of this unique phenomenon on the Balkans.

Reorganization of the Governmental Structure of Roumania

1931 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 700-703
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Roucek
Keyword(s):  
Central Administration ◽  
World War ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Old Kingdom ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Law ◽  
Self Rule ◽  
The University

The law for the reorganization of central administration and the law on local administration (July 20, 1929) sponsored by the National Peasant government of Roumania have recently been put into effect. Both measures were drafted by Professors Negulescu, of the University of Bucharest, and Alexianu, of the University of Cernauţi. Their adoption comprises one of the most thorough governmental reforms in the history of the Balkans.The structure of the Roumanian government was, until very recently, almost completely copied from the French system. Roumania was a typical example of a unitary organization. The whole power of government was centralized in Bucharest. Practically all powers of local government were derived from the central authority, and were enlarged and contracted at the will of Bucharest. The whole system lent itself admirably to the domination of the National Liberal party, guided up to 1927 by Ion I. C. Brǎtianu, and after his death by his brother, Vintilǎ I. C. Brǎtianu, who died last year.Since the strength of the National Peasant party, which assumed the reins in 1928, lies largely in the provinces acquired at the close of the World War, a decentralization of government was to be expected. The bitter resentment of Maniu and his associates toward the over-centralization which favored the policies of the Bratianus forced the recent overhauling of the governmental structure, tending toward federalism—a form which takes cognizance of the differences of the past and present between the old kingdom and the new provinces and attempts to extend democratic features of self-rule to the electorate. At the same time, it attempts to secure bureaucratic expertness.

scholarly journals Contamination by neonicotinoid insecticides in barn owls (Tyto alba) and Alpine swifts (Tachymarptis melba)

2021 ◽  
Vol 785 ◽  
pp. 147403
Author(s):  
Ségolène Humann-Guilleminot ◽  
Shirley Laurent ◽  
Pierre Bize ◽  
Alexandre Roulin ◽  
Gaétan Glauser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Neonicotinoid Insecticides ◽  
Barn Owls

scholarly journals Nidicolous beetle species richness is driven by Barn Owl’s nests occupancy and landscape structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Cosandey ◽  
Robin Séchaud ◽  
Paul Béziers ◽  
Yannick Chittaro ◽  
Andreas Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Barn Owl ◽  
Arthropod Community ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Nest Material ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Nest Boxes ◽  
Bird Droppings ◽  
Barn Owls

AbstractBird nests are specialized habitats because of their particular composition including nest detritus and bird droppings. In consequence, they attract a specialized arthropod community considered as nidicolous, which includes species only found in bird nests (strictly nidicolous) or sometimes found in bird nests (facultatively nidicolous). Because the factors influencing the entomofauna in bird nests are poorly understood, in autumn 2019, we collected nest material in 86 Barn Owl (Tyto alba) nest boxes. We investigated whether the invertebrate species richness was related to Barn Owl nest box occupancy, the density of available nest boxes and the landscape structure. We found 3,321 nidicolous beetle specimens belonging to 24 species. Species richness of strictly nidicolous beetles was 2.7 times higher in nest boxes occupied by a family of Barn Owls the previous spring compared to unoccupied nest boxes. It was also higher in sites that were more often occupied by Barn Owls in the five previous years and in areas surrounded by a higher proportion of crop fields. For facultatively nidicolous beetles, the density of Barn Owl nest boxes enhanced the species richness. In conclusion, our study suggests that the strictly nidicolous beetles benefit from occupied nest boxes of Barn Owls, whereas facultatively nidicolous beetles look for nest boxes independently of whether Barn Owls occupy them. Our study highlights the importance of bird nests for a suite of invertebrates.

scholarly journals The Evolutionary History, Diversity, and Ecology of Willows (Salix L.) in the European Alps

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Natascha D. Wagner ◽  
Li He ◽  
Elvira Hörandl
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Introgressive Hybridization ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Mountain ◽  
The Alps

The genus Salix (willows), with 33 species, represents the most diverse genus of woody plants in the European Alps. Many species dominate subalpine and alpine types of vegetation. Despite a long history of research on willows, the evolutionary and ecological factors for this species richness are poorly known. Here we will review recent progress in research on phylogenetic relationships, evolution, ecology, and speciation in alpine willows. Phylogenomic reconstructions suggest multiple colonization of the Alps, probably from the late Miocene onward, and reject hypotheses of a single radiation. Relatives occur in the Arctic and in temperate Eurasia. Most species are widespread in the European mountain systems or in the European lowlands. Within the Alps, species differ ecologically according to different elevational zones and habitat preferences. Homoploid hybridization is a frequent process in willows and happens mostly after climatic fluctuations and secondary contact. Breakdown of the ecological crossing barriers of species is followed by introgressive hybridization. Polyploidy is an important speciation mechanism, as 40% of species are polyploid, including the four endemic species of the Alps. Phylogenomic data suggest an allopolyploid origin for all taxa analyzed so far. Further studies are needed to specifically analyze biogeographical history, character evolution, and genome evolution of polyploids.

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