DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Genetics of Adaptation and Diversification in the avian genus Zosterops

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding the processes generating the multitude of species on earth is a fundamental challenge that has preoccupied biologists since Darwin's time to the present. By utilizing massive-parallel DNA sequencing methodologies this project will address questions concerning the rapid diversification of a group birds (White-eyes or Zosterops) found on the island of Sulawesi in the Indonesian archipelago. This study will make use of whole genome sequencing to compare levels of divergence among a suite of closely related Zosterops species. This approach will permit the detection of regions of the genome that are potentially responsible for the rapid divergence in plumage that we see among this remarkable radiation of passerine birds. Further, Indonesia is home to many birds that are on the brink of extinction, and with the advent of new genetic techniques, research such as this study will likely uncover cryptic diversity and hence many more potentially endangered species requiring conservation efforts. Through the description of new populations and/or species, the research findings will be shared with the Indonesian government in hopes of informing conservation policy and helping to preserve their unique and diverse biota. This study takes an integrated approach to elucidate phylogeographic, and evolutionary processes that underlie the unique diversity of Wallacea. Genomic data from this project will provide an unparalleled perspective on the underlying processes that are driving high levels of endemism and species richness in the region of Wallacea. Furthermore, it will provide a detailed view into the processes underlying the diversification of one of the most speciose groups of birds on the planet (Zosterops). Only one other study has ever been performed in this context (Darwin's Finches), between islands and along environmental gradients within a rapidly speciating lineage. Furthermore the entire region of Wallacea and the Australasian tropics remains vastly understudied. Understanding the genomic changes among members of the Sulawesi Zosterops species complex will reveal evolutionarily and ecologically important loci underlying the processes that have allowed this group to radiate across the Old World and thus provide insight into the drivers of global avian diversification.