Exemplary systems for adaptive divergence are often characterized by their large degrees of phenotypic variation. This variation represents the outcome of generations of diversifying selection. However, adaptive radiations can also contain a hierarchy of differentiation nested within them where species display only subtle phenotypic differences that still have substantial effects on ecology, fu...

Landscape genetics holds promise for the forecasting of spatial patterns of genetic diversity based on key environmental features. Yet, the degree to which inferences based on single species can be extended to whole communities is not fully understood. We used a pristine and spatially structured community of three landlocked salmonids (Salvelinus fontinalis, Salmo salar, and Salvelinus alpinus)...

Genetic variation and divergence among samples of Chilean hake Merluccius gayi, from three localities off the coast of Chile and one locality off the coast of northern Peru, were assessed using sequences from the control region of mitochondrial DNA. Homogeneity tests revealed occurrence of at least three distinct genetic stocks of M. gayi within the region sampled. Factors potentially contribut...

BACKGROUND Adaptive divergence between populations in the face of strong selection on key traits can lead to morphological divergence between populations without concomitant divergence in neutral DNA. Thus, the practice of identifying genetically distinct populations based on divergence in neutral DNA may lead to a taxonomy that ignores evolutionarily important, rapidly evolving, locally-adapte...

Abstract Models of speciation in African rain forests have stressed either the role of isolation or ecological gradients. Here we contrast patterns of morphological and genetic divergence in parapatric and allopatric populations of the Little Greenbul, Andropadus virens, within different and similar habitats. We sampled 263 individuals from 18 sites and four different habitat types in Upper and...

Habitat preference may promote adaptive divergence and speciation, yet the conditions under which this is likely are insufficiently explored. We use individual-based simulations to study the evolution and consequence of habitat preference during divergence with gene flow, considering four different underlying genetically based behavioural mechanisms: natal habitat imprinting, phenotype-dependen...

Interpopulation hybridization can increase the viability of small populations suffering from inbreeding and genetic drift, but it can also result in outbreeding depression. The outcome of hybridization can depend on various factors, including the level of genetic divergence between the populations, and the number of source populations. Furthermore, the effects of hybridization can change betwee...

Genetic diversity as an important marker of the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems is considered a unique and powerful tool to evaluate biological communities. In order to evaluate the genetic diversity among golden mullet species (Liza aurata) in the southeast and southwest coasts of the Caspian Sea by D-Loop gene sequencing, a total of 23 fin specimens of golden mullet were collected fro...

Levels of genetic differentiation between populations can be highly variable across the genome, with divergent selection contributing to such heterogeneous genomic divergence. For example, loci under divergent selection and those tightly physically linked to them may exhibit stronger differentiation than neutral regions with weak or no linkage to such loci. Divergent selection can also increase...

Knowledge of the genetic basis of phenotypic divergence between species and how such divergence is caused and maintained is crucial to an understanding of speciation and the generation of biodiversity. The hybrid zone between Senecio aethnensis and S. chrysanthemifolius on Mount Etna, Sicily, provides a well-studied example of species divergence in response to conditions at different elevations...