1 Lowland panmixia versus highland disjunction: Genetic and bioacoustic differentiation 2 in two species of East African White-eye birds 3 Jan Christian Habel1*, Werner Ulrich2, Gustav Peters3, Martin Husemann1,4, Luc Lens5 4 5 6 1 7 Technische Universität München, D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany 8 2 9 Toruń, Poland Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Chair of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, PL-87100 10 3 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, D-53113 Bonn, Germany 11 4 Baylor University, Biology Department, Waco, TX-76798, USA 12 5 Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium 13 14 *Corresponding author: 15 Jan Christian Habel, Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department of Ecology and 16 Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 17 D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany 18 E-Mail: Janchristianhabel@gmx.de 19 20 Running title: Genetic and bioacoustic analyses of East African White-eyes 21 1 22 ABSTRACT 23 East-African mountain forest species often occur in small and isolated populations, whereas 24 species inhabiting the dry lowland savannahs exist in large and interconnected population 25 networks. Taxa with closely related highland and lowland species, such as the East-African 26 White-eye birds, allow testing for the potential effects of the two contrasting distribution 27 patterns, mountain disjunction versus lowland panmixia. In this study, we compare the 28 population genetic and bioacoustic differentiation of two representatives of the genus 29 Zosterops: Zosterops poliogaster is exclusively found in forests at higher elevations; in 30 comparison, Zosterops abyssinicus, only occurs in the dry and warm lowland savannahs. Both 31 species were analysed across a similar geographical scale. Population genetic differentiation 32 was inferred using the same set of 15 polymorphic microsatellite loci for both species. In 33 addition, we quantitatively analyzed bioacoustic traits. Both data sets indicate a strong 34 population differentiation among populations of the highland species, but an absence of 35 differentiation in the lowland species. In addition, the lowland Z. abyssinicus was 36 characterised by a twofold higher genetic diversity than detected for the highland 37 Z. poliogaster. These two contrasting intraspecific population structures may reflect the 38 opposite ecology and distribution of these species: the strong population isolation of 39 Z. poliogaster resulting from long-term restriction to the cool and moist mountain forests at 40 higher elevations has led to strong differentiation among local populations and resulted in a 41 comparatively low level of intraspecific variability. In contrast, population panmixia in the 42 lowland Z. abyssinicus provides a high level of gene flow allowing the maintenance of high 43 genetic diversity and avoiding strong population structuring. These findings need to be 44 considered when planning conservation actions. 45 46 Keywords: Bioacoustics, cloud forest, differentiation, disjunction, diversity, panmixia, 47 population genetics, savannah 2 48 INTRODUCTION 49 The mountain cloud forests of the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot provide a 50 heterogeneous habitat consisting of a mosaic of moist and cool highland archipelagos and 51 highly disjunct cloud forest patches surrounded by dry and warm lowland savannah (White 52 1978; Burgess et al. 2007). The biota of the cloud forests are characterised by long-term 53 geographic isolation and have experienced relatively stable climatic conditions (Fjeldså and 54 Lovett 1997; Measey and Tolley 2011; Tolley et al. 2011). These two factors have supported 55 the accumulation of a large number of endemic species, often being restricted to single or few 56 mountain ranges (Rodgers and Homewood 1982; Burgess et al. 1998; Ehrich et al. 2007). In 57 contrast, the lowland savannah provides a large and interconnected habitat situation – and 58 thus an opposite habitat scenario. 59 60 Long lasting isolation of populations often results in strong differentiation patterns (Endler 61 1982; Hendry et al. 2000; Smith et al. 2001; Nosil 2012). Such differentiation can be driven 62 either by stochastic or directional processes. Neutral genetic drift for example strongly 63 depends on the restriction of gene flow and plays a larger role when population sizes are 64 small. Such populations are typically characterized by low levels of variability and high 65 differentiation of isolated populations is common (reviewed in Habel et al. 2013a). Apart 66 from stochastic processes, differences in the local selective environment (e.g. diverging 67 habitat structures, predators, species interactions) may lead to local adaptation even in the face 68 of ongoing gene flow (Danley et al. 2000). Divergent local selection is largely independent of 69 the size of a population and can lead to strong population differentiation (Nosil 2012). Drift 70 might be an important factor in the isolated mountain populations with rather small effective 71 population sizes (Habel & Husemann unpublished data). In contrast, random processes likely 72 play a rather limited role in the lowland species, as high population sizes and high rates of 73 gene flow prevent intraspecific differentiation. 3 74 75 In this study we investigate the effects of the two different habitat distribution types – 76 disjunction and interconnectivity - on the intraspecific differentiation patterns of two bird 77 species. Two representatives of the genus Zosterops serve as our model taxa: while the 78 lowland-inhabiting Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus has a fairly continuous 79 distribution across the widespread savannahs, the highland-dwelling Mountain White-eye 80 Zosterops poliogaster occurs in very isolated mountain forest patches. We used an identical 81 set of polymorphic microsatellites for both species and analysed characteristics of the 82 sonograms of their contact calls to test for potential intraspecific signatures of these two 83 contrasting distribution settings. Based on this multi-marker approach we test the following 84 hypotheses: 85 (i) 86 87 diverse accompanied by a lack of intraspecific differentiation. (ii) 88 89 The interconnected populations of the lowland savannah species are genetically The isolated mountain populations of Z. poliogaster are genetically distinct and exhibit low genetic diversity as a result of small isolated populations. (iii) The genetic and acoustic patterns are concordant. 90 4 91 MATERIAL AND METHODS 92 Study species 93 The genus Zosterops is known for its high speciation rates and great colonization potential 94 (Warren et al. 2006; Moyle et al. 2009; Melo et al. 2011; Oatley et al. 2012). In East Africa 95 the genus occurs with several species with divergent ecology, some restricted to cloud forests 96 whereas others occur mostly in savannah habitats (Redman et al. 2009). Zosterops 97 poliogaster, also known as the Mountain White-eye, is restricted to evergreen cloud forests at 98 higher elevations in East Africa (e.g. in the Taita Hills from 850 to 1700 meters, Mulwa et al. 99 2007). The species can be found from Eritrea and Somalia in the north to Tanzania, e.g. in the 100 highlands of Ethiopia, in the high mountain systems of Kenya, in the Eastern Arc Mountains 101 of northern Tanzania, and on Mt. Elgon in Uganda (Zimmermann et al. 1999; Redman et al. 102 2009). It requires moist and cool climatic conditions, which has led to a highly disjunct 103 geographic distribution. This caused the evolution of various morphologically distinct, locally 104 endemic population clusters (Borghesio and Laiolo 2004; Mulwa et al. 2007; Redman et al. 105 2009). The closely related lowland species Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus is 106 widely distributed across the dry savannahs of East Africa and can be easily distinguished 107 from Z. poliogaster by various morphological characters, especially a much smaller eye ring 108 size and yellower plumage coloration (Redman et al. 2009). 109 110 Study area 111 We collected DNA samples for molecular analyses and recorded contact calls for several 112 population groups across Kenya. The following sites were sampled for Z. poliogaster: Mt. 113 Kulal, Aberdares, two forest fragments in the Chyulu Hills (Satellite and Simba Valley), and 114 four forest fragments located in three separate mountain isolates in the Taita Hills (Chawia and 115 Ngangao forests on Mt. Dabida, Mbololo forest on Mt. Mbololo, and Kasigau forest on Mt. Kasigau) 116 (Fig. 1). Zosterops abyssinicus populations were sampled over large parts of the Kenyan 5 117 lowland savannahs, including some localities being in close geographic proximity to the 118 sampled highland populations of Z. poliogaster: The following sites were sampled for 119 Z. abyssinicus: Mt. Nyiru, Mumoni Hills, Hunters Lodge, Kibwezi and Mtito Andei (both at 120 the foothills of Chyulu Hills), as well as at Dembwa and Mwatate (both at the foothills of the 121 Taita Hills). However, not for all of the populations both data types (molecular and 122 bioacoustic) were available. Details on sampling locations, number of DNA samples and 123 number of recorded and analysed contact calls are listed in Table 1. Sampling sites are 124 displayed in Fig. 1. 125 126 Molecular data 127 Individuals were captured with mist nets and ringed individually during 2009-2012. Blood 128 samples were taken from the birds´ brachial vein using a sterile needle and a 20µl capillary. 129 Blood was stored in pure ethanol and frozen at -20°C until DNA extraction. Alternatively we 130 extracted DNA from feathers. DNA extraction, standard PCR procedure and fragment length 131 detection was performed for both species as described in Habel et al. (2013b). We analysed 132 the same 15 polymorphic microsatellites for both species (ZL44, ZL41, Cu28, ZL18, ZL50, 133 ZL49, ZL14, ZL22, ZL45, Mme12, ZL35, ZL04, ZL54, ZL37, ZL2) for a total of 257 134 individuals from 10 sites. Sample sizes ranged from 9 to 35 individuals per population, with a 135 mean number of 25.7 individuals per population. Part of the molecular data was taken from a 136 previous study (Habel et al. 2013b, indicated in Table 1). 137 138 The microsatellite data was tested for distortion through stutter bands, large allele dropout or 139 null alleles (Selkoe and Toonen 2006) using MICROCHECKER vers. 2.2.3 (Van Oosterhout et 140 al. 2004). Parameters of genetic variability including mean number of alleles A, percentage of 141 expected heterozygosity He, percentage of observed heterozygosity Ho, tests on Hardy- 142 Weinberg equilibrium (HWE), and linkage disequilibrium were calculated with ARLEQUIN 6 143 vers. 3.1 (Excoffier et al. 2005). Allelic richness (AR) based on the lowest number of 144 individuals sampled (here on 9 individuals) was calculated with FSTAT vers. 2.9.3.2 (Goudet 145 1995). We further calculated the percentage of private alleles (AP) being restricted to single 146 mountain areas for Z. poliogaster, and single populations in Z. abyssinicus. 147 148 STRUCTURE vers. 2.3.3 (Pritchard et al. 2000) was used to infer the most probable number of 149 genetic clusters for both species separately. For each species the total number of populations 150 was defined as the maximum number of clusters (K=8 for Z. poliogaster, K=2 for 151 Z. abyssinicus). We used the batch run function to carry out a total of 80 runs (10 each for one 152 to 8 clusters, i.e. K = 1 to K = 8) for Z. poliogaster, which allowed us to quantify deviations 153 among multiple different runs for a fixed K and to calculate means and standard deviations. 154 For Z. abyssinicus we carried out a total of 20 runs (10 each for one to two clusters, i.e. K = 1 155 to K = 2). For both species the burn-in and simulation length were 150,000 and 500,000 runs, 156 respectively. Since the log probability values for the different K-values were shown to yield 157 inaccurate numbers of genetic clusters in some cases, we calculated ∆K (Evanno et al. 2005) 158 to infer the most likely number of groups (Kalinowski 2011). 159 160 Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVAs) were carried out using F-statistics as well as the 161 microsatellite-specific R-statistics (Slatkin 1995). For the mountain forest species Z. 162 poliogaster we conducted hierarchical variance analyses using pre-defined clusters, according 163 to our Structure results (highest clustering probability for K = 4, see results) and according the 164 five mountain isolates where Z. poliogaster was collected (Taita Hills (Mt. Kasigau), Taita 165 Hills (Chawia, Ngangao and Mbololo), Chyulu Hills, Aberdares, Mt. Kulal). For the lowland Z. 166 abyssinicus we analysed the genetic differentiation between the two local populations. 167 Genetic distances were calculated using the Cavallis-Sforza & Edwards (1967) algorithm 168 implemented in ARLEQUIN. 7 169 170 To test the level and direction of gene flow among locations and genetic clusters we used 171 BAYESASS vers. 1.3 (Wilson and Rannala 2003). This programme relies on multi-locus 172 genotypes and a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to estimate proportions of 173 non-migrants and the source of migrants for each sampling site (Wilson and Rannala 2003). 174 We performed runs of the algorithm with 9 × 106 iterations; 3 × 106 iterations were discarded 175 as burn-in. Delta values of m = 0.30, P = 0.15, and F = 0.15 yielded an average number of 176 changes in the accepted range. We tested for potential gene flow among all sampling sites 177 including both taxa. 178 179 Bioacoustics 180 Contact calls of foraging bird flocks of both study species were recorded during February- 181 April in the years 2010 and 2013 using a Sennheiser ME67 directional microphone 182 (Sennheiser, Hanover, Germany). The frequency curve 3 was selected to filter lower 183 frequencies during recording. A digital Zoom-H4 recorder was used to save the calls. 184 Microphone and recorder were linked with a Sennheiser K6CL Speisemodul. The input level 185 of 100% was operated manually and not changed during recording. Contact calls of the birds 186 are known to be used for maintaining flock structure, as well as for mate recognition 187 (Robertson 1996; Condo & Watanabe 2009). We recorded at a distance of approximately five 188 meters between microphone and bird flocks. Individuals mostly emit these calls in series and 189 regular intervals. As both species generally occur in large flocks (sizes ranging from few 190 individuals to some tens), and often multiple individuals emit calls simultaneously, our 191 dataset may contain some repeated recordings from the same individuals. Calls were recorded 192 between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm for a period of three days at each site. Recordings were saved 193 as stereo wav-files. 194 8 195 We selected high quality calls using PRAAT vers. 5.2.15 (Boersma 2002) and excluded 196 recordings affected by strong background noise from further analyses. After quality control, a 197 total number of 1997 bird calls were kept for further analyses (a mean of 154 calls per site (± 198 92 SD), ranging from 17 to 345 calls per site, Table 1). For each call we measured the 199 following characters: Starting frequency (sometimes identical to lowest frequency), first peak 200 (sometimes identical to highest frequency), end frequency (sometimes identical with lowest 201 frequency), highest and lowest frequency, total length (duration) of each call and the 202 frequency range (by subtracting the lowest frequency from the highest frequency). The 203 scoring of sonograms was performed blind to site (i.e. population) and species and was done 204 by the same person (JCH). Selected dynamic range (bit depth) was identical for all calls 205 analysed. 206 207 We used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and applied K-means clustering to group 208 populations based on the six bird call characteristics (Ding and He 2004). The resulting 209 groupings were used to predefine units for subsequent one-way ANOVA and pair-wise post- 210 hoc Tukey tests on the six bird call characteristics. Furthermore, correlation between 211 geographic distances and the similarity of bird calls were tested using a Mantel test. All 212 statistical analyses were performed with STATISTICA vers. 7 (StatSoft, Tulsa, OK, USA). 213 9 214 RESULTS 215 Molecular data 216 Genetic diversity strongly differs between the lowland and the highland species, with about 217 twice the amount of genetic diversity found in the lowland species Z. abyssinicus when 218 compared to the highland species Z. poliogaster. Within the mountain clusters of Z. 219 poliogaster we detected the highest genetic diversity in the population from the Aberdares, 220 and the lowest values in the Taita Hills populations. Population specific values are given in 221 Table 2. 222 223 The ΔK values of the STRUCTURE analysis indicated the highest probability for a clustering 224 into four groups (K = 4) for the highland species Z. poliogaster. The four clusters were in 225 accordance with the following mountain isolates: Mt. Kulal, Chyulu Hills, Taita Hills 226 (Chawia, Ngangao and Mbololo) and Taita Hills (Mt. Kasigau). The latter mountain isolate 227 being geologically assigned to the Taita Hills showed a strong genetic admixture with 228 individuals from the other parts of the Taita Hills (Fig. 2). In contrast to Z. poliogaster, the 229 lowland species Z. abyssinicus showed no genetic clustering. Structure plots for both species 230 are shown in Fig. 2. Probability values and respective ∆K for each K are given in Appendix 231 S1. 232 233 Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVAs) revealed that a similar portion of the total 234 variance is explained by the differences between the highland Z. poliogaster and the lowland 235 Z. abyssinicus (18.1769, RCT = 0.2868, p < 0.0001) as is by the differences between local 236 populations of the highland species Z. poliogaster (19.3574, RST = 0.3958, p < 0.0001; 237 0.9625). When applying AMOVA to the STRUCTURE results we found that much of the total 238 genetic variance is explained by the divergence among the four clusters (24.8257, RCT = 239 0.4426, p < 0.0001). We detected a weak, but significant genetic differentiation among the 10 240 neighbouring Z. poliogaster populations analysed for the Taita Hills (including the forest 241 patches Ngangao, Chawia, and Mbololo, the latter one separated only by a valley). No 242 significant genetic differentiation could be detected between the two Z. abyssinicus 243 populations (-1.3293, RST = -0.0085, p > 0.05). The detailed results are given in Table 3, 244 respective values obtained from F-statistics are given in Appendix S2. 245 246 We detected low migration rates among the mountain populations of Z. poliogaster, but some 247 gene flow within single mountain massifs, like in the Chyulu Hills (from Satellite to Simba 248 Valley, 18.5%) and within the Taita Hills (from Mbololo to Ngangao, 30.8%). The population 249 from Mt. Kasigau (about 50 km south of the other Taita Hills populations (Chawia, Ngangao 250 and Mbololo)) seemed to have received a relatively large proportion of its gene pool from the 251 Mbololo site of the Taita Hills (27.9%), which is in line with the results obtained from 252 STRUCTURE analyses and our AMOVA calculations. Gene flow estimates between the two Z. 253 abyssinicus populations was high (from Kibwezi to Nyiru, 27.4%) despite the large 254 geographic distance (> 600 km). No interspecific gene flow was detected between Z. 255 abyssinicus and Z. poliogaster. A Mantel test showed that the genetic distance (based on 256 Cavallis-Sofrza & Edwards (1967) algorithm) is not significantly correlated with the 257 geographic distance (no isolation by distance). 258 259 Bioacoustics 260 The first two axes of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) explained 43.0% (PC1call) and 261 28.7% (PC2call) of the total variance. PC1call was highly correlated with the maximum 262 frequency (r = 0.64) and differences in maximum frequency (r = 0.49) while PC2call was 263 correlated with the starting frequency (r = 0.54) and the lowest frequency (r = 0.55). 264 11 265 An ANOVA revealed significant differences in the total length of calls and in call frequencies 266 (start frequency, highest frequency and range) between Z. poliogaster and Z. abyssinicus (Fig. 267 3), (PC1, PC2, t-test: p < 0.001). PCA further indicated strong differences in the starting 268 frequencies (scoring highest with PC2call) among local populations of both Zosterops species 269 (Fig. 3). Both analyses showed a high overlap in Z. abyssinicus call patterns among the 6 270 populations recorded (Fig. 3). Pairwise post-hoc Tukey comparisons of sites corroborated the 271 PC clustering and showed that most Z. abyssinicus populations are not significantly 272 differentiated in their calls (Table 4). In contrast, we found significant differences among the 273 local mountain populations of Z. poliogaster (ANOVA: p < 0.001) (Fig. 3, Table 4). For Z. 274 poliogaster, population differentiation in call patterns showed a strong correlation with the 275 geographic distance (Mantel test: r = 0.48, p < 0.001). A main split was detected between the 276 populations from Mt. Kulal and Aberdares which formed a group and individuals from the 277 Chyulu Hills, Taita Hills (Chawia, Ngangao and Mbololo) and Taita Hills (Mt. Kasigau) (Fig. 278 3B). This pattern is congruent with the main split derived from our molecular data. Further, 279 the calls of Z. poliogaster showed a low variance within single populations. In contrast, the 280 range of calls in Z. abyssinicus was comparatively broad. A Mantel test used to compare 281 genetic distances and acoustic distances among populations did not show a significant 282 correlation (r = 0.09, p > 0.36). Pairwise distances (genetic and geographic) are given in 283 Appendix S3. 284 12 285 DISCUSSION 286 The signatures of panmixia and disjunction 287 Our genetic and bioacoustic data indicate strong differentiation among local populations of Z. 288 poliogaster from isolated mountains. These deep genetic and bioacoustic splits found in 289 conspecific populations of Z. poliogaster even exceeded the level of divergence between the 290 highland and lowland species. In parallel, the genetic and bioacoustic variability found within 291 each population of Z. poliogaster is rather low. In contrast to these strong intraspecific 292 signatures observed for Z. poliogaster, the lowland Z. abyssinicus showed a contrasting 293 pattern: no differentiation neither genetically, nor bioacoustically, accompanied by high levels 294 of intra-population variation. 295 296 The genetic and bioacoustic patterns reflect the two opposite distribution settings of the taxa: 297 the lowland species has a continuous distribution across the lowland savannahs. This suggests 298 a panmictic or metapopulation-like structure with interconnected local populations. The high 299 intraspecific variability is maintained in an interconnected population network (i.e. high rates 300 of gene flow) of large populations. The opposite scenario applies to Z. poliogaster, where 301 local populations show strong genetic and bioacoustic differentiation, but comparatively low 302 levels of genetic and bioacoustic variability within single populations or groups. This might 303 be the result of long term isolation at geographically separated mountain exclaves with rather 304 small population sizes. The combination of population differentiation and low intra- 305 population variation is a typical feature found in species with highly disjunct occurrences 306 (Habel et al. 2013a). 307 308 Complex differentiation with patterns in Zosterops poliogaster 309 The bioacoustic and genetic differentiation patterns of Z. poliogaster differ from each other. 310 While our molecular data showed no correlation between the genetic and geographical 13 311 distance, the bioacoustic data showed similarities in geographically close populations, 312 whereas geographically distant populations strongly differed from each other (Mantel test: r = 313 0.48, p < 0.001). Our genetic data revealed two main clusters within Z. poliogaster: the 314 southern Kenyan populations including all Taita Hills populations (including Mt. Kasigau), 315 and all other populations from the Central Kenyan Highlands, including northern Kenya. This 316 split separates individuals from the Taita Hills from individuals from the Chyulu Hills, less 317 than 60 km apart. In parallel, individuals from the Chyulu Hills are genetically similar to 318 individuals from Mt. Kulal (more than 600 km distant). Yet, the population from the latter 319 mountain massif shows similarities in their contact calls with individuals from the Taita Hills. 320 321 The differences in genetic and acoustic differentiation patterns indicate that different 322 evolutionary forces might drive their divergence. Assuming that the molecular markers used 323 in this study represent neutral loci, the significant population differentiation of Z. poliogaster 324 indicates that drift might play a strong role for their divergence. Long-lasting geographic 325 isolation accompanied by comparatively small habitat sizes, and consequently population 326 sizes, make populations more vulnerable to stochastic events and can lead to an accelerated 327 fixation of alleles. Similar complex differentiation patterns on mountain islands were 328 observed for other taxa in parts of the Eastern Afromontane region, e.g. in chameleons 329 (Measey and Tolley 2011). 330 331 In turn, acoustic behaviour generally is considered to be under sexual or natural selection 332 (Brooks et al. 2005). The contact calls of Zosterops are known to serve as mate recognition 333 character and social signal for maintaining flock structure (Robertson 1996), and therefore 334 might be under sexual or natural selection. However, if selection was the driving force of 335 acoustic differentiation in this system one would expect that contact calls would be stabilized 336 to ensure the recognition of conspecifics. Interestingly, in our system local populations 14 337 strongly differ in acoustic traits. Therefore, it is possible that divergent ecological conditions 338 might change the acoustic environment at a location leading to different local optima. 339 However, if selection is not as strong on contact calls as expected or only specific acoustic 340 parameters are under selection drift could explain acoustic population divergence as well. If 341 drift as a random process acted on two different traits simultaneously one would expect 342 divergent differentiation patterns, such as observed for Z. poliogaster. 343 344 Implementations for conservation 345 The lowland species seems to exist in a large and interconnected population network which 346 guarantees species persistence and the maintenance of high and homogeneously distributed 347 intraspecific diversity. For the long-term persistence of such species, the creation of single, 348 large conservation areas are adequate. In contrast, the geographically disjunct distribution of 349 the highland congener Z. poliogaster with various population groups representing unique 350 molecular and bioacoustic characteristics restricted to single mountain massifs poses a 351 conservation challenge (Moritz 1994). To conserve the entire intraspecific variation, a large 352 proportion of the distribution range has to be taken into consideration when integrating 353 several small conservation areas (see the debate on adapted conservation strategies, the 354 SLOSS-debate, Virolainen et al. 1998; Stockhausen & Lipcius 2001). The preservation of 355 such isolated and small populations might be further complicated due to ongoing 356 deforestation in major parts of Kenya (Pellikka et al. 2009). 357 15 358 Acknowledgements 359 This study was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). We thank Titus 360 Iboma, Onesmus M. Kioko and Ronald K. 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Zimmermann DA, Turner DA, Person DJ (1996) Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. London: Chrostopher Helm. 487 20 488 Figure 1: Sampling sites of the highland species Zosterops poliogaster (grey / green dots) and 489 lowland species Zosterops abyssinicus (white / yellow dots). Site numbers and names 490 coincide with other tables and figures. Country boarder between Kenya and Tanzania is 491 marked as black line. Zosterops poliogaster: 1 = Mt. Kulal, 2 = Aberdares, 3 = CH-Satellite, 4 492 = CH-Simba valley, 5 = TH-Mbololo, 6 = TH-Ngangao, 7 = TH-Chawia, 8 = TH-Mt. 493 Kasigau; Zosterops abyssinicus: 9 = Mt. Nyiru, 10 = Mumoni Hills, 11 = Hunters Lodge, 12 = 494 Kibwezi, 13 = Mtito Andei, 14 = TH-Dembwa, 15 = TH-Mwatate. Abbreviations: CH = 495 Chyulu Hills, TH = Taita Hills. 496 21 497 Figure 2: Structure analysis of A) Zosterops poliogaster and B) Zosterops abyssinicus 498 performed with the Structure software (Pritchard et al. 2000). Structure plots are given for K 499 = 4 for Z. poliogaster determined as most appropriate by the highest ∆K (Evanno et al. 2005) 500 (see Appendix S1), and for Z. abyssinicus for K = 2 (maximum number of populations 501 analysed). 502 503 A) 504 505 B) 506 507 22 Figure 3: The first two axes of Principal Component Analysis (PC1: 43.0% of variance 509 explained, PC2: 28.8%) of contact call parameters of A) Zosterops abyssinicus, B) Zosterops 510 poliogaster, and C) contact calls of both species. PCA 2 508 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 Mumoni Kibwezi Mtito Andei Mwatate Z. abyssinicus PCA 2 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 B 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 Mt Kulal Z. poliogaster Ngangao Aberdares Mt Kasigau Satellite Mbololo Simba -4 PCA 2 A Dembwa Hunters Lodge 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 C Z. abyssinicus Z. poliogaster -4 -3 -2 -1 0 PCA 1 1 2 3 4 511 23 512 Table 1: Sampling sites for Zosterops poliogaster and Zosterops abyssinicus. Given is the 513 running number for each site (coinciding with other figures and tables), locality name, 514 number of recorded bird calls and number of sampled individuals for microsatellite analyses. 515 Abbreviations: CH = Chyulu Hills, TH = Taita Hills, * = data taken from Habel et al. (2013b). 516 Site Locality Zosterops poliogaster 1 Mt. Kulal 2 Aberdares 3 CH-Satellite 4 CH-Simba valley 5 TH-Mbololo 6 TH-Ngangao 7 TH-Chawia 8 TH-Mt. Kasigau Zosterops abyssinicus 9 Mt. Nyiru 10 Mumoni Hills 11 Hunters Lodge 12 Kibwezi 13 Mtito Andei 14 TH-Dembwa 15 TH-Mwatate N µSat N Calls 30* 25 28* 9 31 21* 26 21* 17 205 111 248 172 193 72 31 35* - 121 78 263 38 138 345 517 24 518 Table 2: Parameters of genetic diversity obtained for Zosterops poliogaster and Z. 519 abyssinicus. Given are the locality and five parameters of genetic diversity: mean number of 520 alleles (A), allelic richness (AR), number of private alleles occurring restricted to single 521 mountain massifs (AP), percentage of expected heterozygosity (He), and percentage of 522 observed heterozygosity (Ho). Abbreviations: SD = Standard deviation, CH = Chyulu Hills, 523 TH = Taita Hills. Locality Zosterops poliogaster Mt. Kulal Aberdares CH-Satellite CH-Simba valley TH-Mbololo TH-Ngangao TH-Chawia TH-Mt. Kasigau Mean (±SD) Zosterops abyssinicus Mt. Nyeri Kibwezi Mean (±SD) A AR AP [%] He [%] Ho [%] 2.31 3.82 2.07 1.13 1.73 1.53 2.53 1.20 2.04 (±0.87) 2.21 2.73 2.06 1.74 1.74 1.72 2.10 1.5 1.98 (±0.38) 10.26 10.34 13.16 0.00 6.45 6.67 12.50 3.85 7.90 (±4.52) 29.91 35.96 26.00 16.48 20.83 18.72 25.15 18.44 23.94 (±6.64) 25.51 33.99 13.83 13.33 15.64 15.45 19.64 17.81 19.40 (±7.08) 4.10 4.07 4.09 (±0.02) - - - - 45.30 41.48 43.39 (±2.70) 40.70 34.74 37.72 (±4.21) 524 25 525 Table 3: Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) for the two species Zosterops poliogaster 526 and Z. abyssinicus. Given are results on potential differentiation between the two species, 527 differentiation within Z. poliogaster populations (mountain massifs). Variance values in top 528 line with respective R statistic values (in parenthesis below). Abbreviations: *: p < 0.05; **: p 529 < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001. Values obtained from F-statistics are given in Appendix S3. Group All Z. abyssinicus vs all Z. poliogaster Z. poliogaster (according K = 4) Z. poliogaster five mountain areas Among groups or species (RCT) 18.1769 (0.2868***) 24.8257 (0.4426***) 19.3574 (0.3958***) Among populations within groups (RSC) 14.9725 (0.3313***) 1.04681 (0.0335) 0.8133 (0.0275) Within individuals 17.1037 17.1037 14.1379 530 26 531 Table 4: Results of ANOVA to infer differences in calls between the two species Zosterops 532 poliogaster and Z. abyssinicus, and among local populations. Variable Species Sites Error SS 93547 8613 24812 df 1 11 1983 F 2792 62.6 - P <0.001 <0.001 - 27 533 Table 5: Significance levels of post-hoc Tukey tests for a one-way ANOVA applied to the K-means classification of site membership based on the 534 raw bird call patterns. Z. poliogaster Z. abyssinicus Site Kibwesi Mtito Andei Mumoni Dembwa Mwatate CH-Satellite CH-Simba valley TH-Mt. Kasigau TH-Mbololo TH-Ngangao Aberdares Mt. Kulal Zosterops abyssinicus Zosterops poliogaster Hunters Mtito CHCH-Simba Kibwezi Mumoni Dembwa Mwatate Lodge Andei Satellite valley 0.33 <0.001 0.42 0.49 0.99 0.31 0.95 0.98 0.08 0.99 0.99 0.21 0.03 0.93 0.99 0.49 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.98 0.62 0.06 0.99 0.99 0.99 <0.001 0.47 0.99 0.37 0.99 0.99 0.98 <0.001 0.99 <0.001 <0.001 0.99 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.13 0.99 0.63 0.99 0.79 0.12 <0.001 0.36 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.05 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 0.01 0.55 <0.001 TH-Mt. THTHKasigau Mbololo Ngangao 0.07 0.99 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 28 Aberdares 0.99 535 Appendix S1: Results of the STRUCTURE analysis. Ln(Pr) calculated using the STRUCTURE 536 software (white dots) that K is the correct number of populations. The ad-hoc statistic ∆K 537 (black cubes) based on the rate of change in the log probability of data between successive K 538 values (Evanno et al. 2005), is not applicable for K=1, and from the equation given in the 539 methods section it is obvious that it cannot be calculated for the highest K number either 540 (because data for K=1 are needed); we further ignore the high ΔK value obtained for K=2 as 541 suggested by Hausdorf and Hennig (2010). 180 Ln Probability of Data 1 -3000 2 3 4 5 6 7 160 140 120 100 -3500 80 60 -4000 Delta K -2500 40 20 0 -4500 -20 542 543 29 544 Appendix S2: Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) to detect genetic differentiation 545 between the two species, Zosterops poliogaster and Z. abyssinicus, and the differentiation 546 within Z. poliogaster (mountain massifs). Variance values in top line with respective F 547 statistic values (in parenthesis below). Abbreviations: *: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 548 0.001. Respective R-statistics is given Table 3. Group All Z. abyssinicus vs all Z. poliogaster Z. poliogaster (according K = 4) Z. poliogaster five mountain areas Among groups or species (FCT) 0.2440 (0.0815*) 0.4493 (0.1589***) 1.0142 (0.36595***) Among populations within groups (FSC) 0.8066 (0.2933***) 0.3524 (0.1482***) 0.0945 (0.0538***) Within individuals 1.7004 1.6833 1.4255 549 30 550 Appendix S3: Matrix of pairwise geographic distances (in km) among all locations and matrix of pairwise genetic distances based on Cavallis- 551 Sforza & Edwards (1976) and pairwise Rst-values among all populations analysed for Zosterops poliogaster. Geographic distances Mt. Kulal Aberdares CH-Satellite CH-Simba Valley TH-Mbololo TH-Ngangao TH-Chawia TH-Mt. Kasigau Mt. Kulal Aberdares - 277.29 Cavalli-Sforza & Edwards (1976) 0.000 0.313 Mt. Kulal 0.000 Aberdares CH-Satellite CH-Simba Valley TH-Mbololo TH-Ngangao TH-Chawia TH-Mt. Kasigau Pairwise Rst-values Mt. Kulal Aberdares CH-Satellite CH-Simba Valley TH-Mbololo 0.00000 0.06739 0.12212 0.36561 0.68427 0.00000 0.16422 0.10798 0.53206 CHSatellite CHSimba V. THMbololo THNgangao THChawia THMt. Kasigau 554.91 319.90 497.69 252.35 69.68 555.11 316.96 9.25 65.26 553.17 313.77 13.43 61.74 4.52 562.99 322.99 15.84 70.72 8.98 9.83 621.53 386.89 67.71 134.91 69.93 73.20 64.29 - 0.381 0.383 0.000 0.388 0.402 0.158 0.000 0.451 0.407 0.443 0.424 0.000 0.449 0.416 0.448 0.442 0.122 0.000 0.444 0.402 0.419 0.430 0.194 0.149 0.000 0.452 0.437 0.479 0.480 0.222 0.171 0.235 0.000 0.00000 0.05774 0.04359 0.00000 0.72115 0.00000 31 TH-Ngangao TH-Chawia TH-Mt. Kasigau 0.68516 0.57333 0.80641 0.52915 0.49116 0.58173 0.07260 0.08063 0.11373 0.71991 0.57565 0.87978 0.02303 0.03690 0.27484 0.00000 0.02020 0.15387 0.00000 0.20306 0.00000 552 32