Environmental gradients of selection for an alpine-obligate bird, the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura).

ABSTRACT: The warming climate will expose alpine species adapted to a highly seasonal, harsh environment to novel environmental conditions. A species can shift their distribution, acclimate, or adapt in response to a new climate. Alpine species have little suitable habitat to shift their distribution, and the limits of acclimation will likely be tested by climate change in the long-term. Adaptive genetic variation may provide the raw material for species to adapt to this changing environment. Here, we use a genomic approach to describe adaptive divergence in an alpine-obligate species, the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), a species distributed from Alaska to New Mexico, across an environmentally variable geographic range. Previous work has identified genetic structure and morphological, beh

SUBMITTER: Zimmerman SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7852610 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature