The Genetic and Morphological Basis of Local Adaptation to Elevational Extremes in an Alpine Finch.

ABSTRACT: Understanding patterns and mechanisms underlying local adaptation is becoming increasingly important for species conservation amid anthropogenically driven environmental change. Alpine systems are experiencing particularly intense pressure from environmental change resulting from increased rates of warming and corresponding loss of snow and ice. We integrate morphological and genetic analyses to identify traits important for local adaptation in one of the highest elevation breeding birds in North America, the Sierra Nevada Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. We performed an in-depth analysis of how traits with known links to thermoregulation in birds such as wing length, bill size, and feather microstructure vary between two populations at sites with contrasting climate and environmental conditions.

SUBMITTER: Robertson ECN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12853319 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature