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  • III — Méthodes D’inventaire et de Caractérisation de la Diversité Génétique en Milieu Naturel / Methods for Inventory and Characterization of Genetic Diversity in Natural Environment
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Is phenotypic variation of blue tits (Parus caeruleus L.) in Mediterranean mainland and insular landscapes adaptive?

La variation phénoty pique des mésanges bleues (Parus caeruleus L.) dans les paysages méditerranéens continentaux et insulaires est-elle adaptative ?

Genetics Selection Evolution volume 33, Article number: S121 (2001) Cite this article

Abstract

Few empirical studies of bird populations have examined in detail how proximate and ultimate factors determine phenotypic variation in relation to small-scale environmental variation. This question has been addressed in the Mediterranean region, using blue tit (Parus caeruleus) populations living in habitat patches dominated either by deciduous (Quercus humilis) or evergreen (Q. ilex) oaks, which strongly differ in the timing and abundance of food resources. Our aim was threefold: 1) to analyse phenotypic variation and local differentiation of fitness-related life history traits on the scale of habitat mosaics within two different landscapes, one in mainland southern Prance and one on the island of Corsica; 2) to examine to what extent phenotypic variation is an ultimate response to local selection regimes and results in local adaptation; 3) to investigate whether phenotypic variation correlates with the genetic structure of populations. In the mainland landscape, where tits are assumed to disperse freely across habitat patches, little local differentiation of breeding traits has been found within a range of ca 40 km, suggesting gene swamping between populations. A molecular genetics study of populations within this landscape supported the hypothesis of a source-sink population structure with more birds immigrating from deciduous habitat patches to evergreen ones than the reverse. In a similar geographic configuration of habitats in Corsica, there was a higher phenotypic variation and a higher degree of population differentiation on a scale which is usually smaller than the dispersal range of blue tits. This difference between the mainland and Corsica is interpreted as resulting from reduced dispersal ranges of island birds and supports the divergence-with-gene-flow model of speciation.

Résumé

Un problème fondamental et très actuel en biologie évolutive est l’étude du degré d’adaptation des organismes à leur environnement, ce degré étant déterminé par l’équilibre réalisé entre la spécialisation locale, qui est une réponse évolutive aux régimes locaux de sélection, et le brassage génétique. Malgré son importance théorique et appliquée à la gestion des espèces et des espaces, très peu d’études de cas ont abordé ce problème chez les vertébrés. Un objectif majeur est de faire la distinction entre les facteurs écologiques ou «immédiats» et les facteurs évolutifs ou «ultimes» qui déterminent la variation phénotypique observée en fonction d’une variation à petite échelle de l’environnement. Cette question a été abordée en région Méditerranéenne sur des populations de Mésange bleue (Parus caeruleus) qui habitent deux types d’habitats qui diffèrent fortement par l’abondance et la phénologie des ressources alimentaires exploitées par les mésanges, des forêts de Chêne pubescent (Quercus humilis) et des forêts de Chêne vert (Q. ilex). Le but du progamme est triple: 1) analyser la variation phénotypique de traits d’histoire de vie étroitement associés à la valeur sélective des organismes; 2) examiner dans quelle mesure cette variation est une réponse évolutive aux régimes locaux de sélection, cas auquel elle se traduit par une spécialisation locale génétiquement fixée; 3) examiner si cette variation est corrélée à la structuration génétique des populations. Le protocole d’étude se situe à deux échelles emboîtées d’espace et comprend deux paysages de même configuration géographique, l’un en Corse, l’autre sur le continent dans les environs de Montpellier (échelle inter-régionale). Chaque paysage comprend à son tour les deux types d’habitats, Chêne pubescent et Chêne vert (échelle intra-régionale). Dans le paysage continental oú les mésanges sont supposées se disperser librement entre les deux types d’habitats, une faible différenciation des traits de reproduction, notamment de la date de ponte, indique qu’un brassage génétique important entre populations s’oppose à la spécialisation locale. Une étude de génétique moléculaire tend à confirmer l’hypothèse d’une structure populationnelle du type «source-puits». Dans le paysage insulaire, la variation phénotypique des traits, notamment de la date de ponte, est plus élevée et correspond à une spécialisation étroite des populations à des habitats contrastés mais géographiquement très voisins. Cette différence entre le continent et la Corse est interprétée comme la conséquence d’une dispersion plus réduite chez les oiseaux insulaires, ce qui autorise une différenciation adaptative entre populations, même en présence d’un flux génique. Cette étude, qui est la première à démontrer chez des oiseaux aussi mobiles que des passereaux, une différenciation adaptative à une échelle d’espace très inférieure au rayon de dispersion des organismes, pose la question de l’identification et de la gestion de la diversité génétique, notamment en milieu insulaire.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEFE/CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Jacques Blondel, Philippe Perret, Paula C. Dias & Marcel M. Lambrechts

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  1. Jacques Blondel
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  2. Philippe Perret
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  3. Paula C. Dias
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  4. Marcel M. Lambrechts
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Blondel, J., Perret, P., Dias, P.C. et al. Is phenotypic variation of blue tits (Parus caeruleus L.) in Mediterranean mainland and insular landscapes adaptive?. Genet Sel Evol 33 (Suppl 1), S121 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03500877

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Genetics Selection Evolution

ISSN: 1297-9686