Influence of quaternary sea-level variations on a land bird endemic to Pacific atolls.
Little is known about the effect of quaternary climate variations on organisms that inhabited carbonate islands of the Pacific Ocean, although it has been suggested that one or several uplifted islands provided shelter for terrestrial birds when sea-level reached its highest. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the history of colonization of the Tuamotu reed-warbler (Acrocephalus atyphus) in southeastern Polynesia, and found high genetic structure between the populations of three elevated carbonate islands. Estimates of time since divergence support the hypothesis that these islands acted as refugia during the last interglacial maximum. These findings are particularly important for defining conservation priorities on atolls that endure the current trend of sea-level rise owing to global warming.
Cibois
Alice
A
Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology, Natural History Museum of Geneva, 1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland. alice.cibois@ville-ge.ch
Thibault
Jean-Claude
JC
Pasquet
Eric
E
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D057232:Global Warming; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010139:Pacific Islands; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D011156:Population Density
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial