Population Divergence in the Eastern North American Boreal Forests: Extensive Gene Flow Characterises a Hybrid Zone Between Palm Warbler Subspecies (Parulidae: Setophaga palmarum).

ABSTRACT: Pleistocene glaciations have shaped much of the population divergence events in the coniferous forests of North America. However, unlike in western North America, the evidence for forest fragmentation and population divergence associated with glacial cycles is less clear in the boreal forests of eastern North America. Here, we present the first genomic analysis of an avian hybrid zone in the eastern North American boreal forest between two subspecies of Palm Warblers (Setophaga palmarum). Using both genomic and plumage datasets, we characterise the divergence history of the two subspecies and relate our findings to the larger biogeographic history of the region. We find the Palm Warbler subspecies to have diverged in the mid-Pleistocene (~831 KYA) and have experienced near-continuous gene

SUBMITTER: Yoo G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12329643 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature