Birds in space & time: genetic changes accompanying anthropogenic habitat fragmentation in the endangered black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla)

Anthropogenic alterations of the natural environment can be a potent evolutionary force. For species that have specific habitat requirements, habitat loss can result in substantial genetic effects, potentially impeding future adaptability and evolution. The endangered black-capped vireo (Vireo atricapilla) suffered a substantial contraction of breeding habitat and population size during much of the 20th century. In a previous study we reported significant differentiation between remnant populations, but failed to recover a strong genetic signal of bottlenecks. In this study, we used a combination of historical and contemporary sampling from Oklahoma and Texas to i) determine if population structure and genetic diversity have changed over time, and ii) evaluate alternate demographic hypotheses using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). We found lower genetic diversity and increased differentiation in contemporary samples compared to historical samples –indicating non-trivial impacts o...