Data from: The great rift valley is a greater biogeographic barrier than the blue Nile Valley for six Ethiopian highland passerines in the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot

The Ethiopian Highlands are divided by lowland biogeographic barriers,
including the Blue Nile Valley (BNV) and Great Rift Valley (GRV). We show
that the GRV is a more pronounced phylogeographic break than the BNV for
six focal passerines. Previous research suggests that the BNV greatly
shaped phylogeographic patterns in relatively sedentary montane taxa such
as frogs and rodents, whereas the GRV shaped phylogeographic patterns in
volant taxa such as birds. However, no previous research simultaneously
compares the impact of each valley on phylogeographic patterns in birds,
and as these barriers vary in geographic extent and topography, the
relative extent of their effects on gene flow is unclear. Using whole
genome resequencing, we quantified genetic variation in six montane forest
passerines in the Ethiopian Highlands and found that their phylogeographic
patterns varied, with general trends distinct from those of taxa that were
previously studied across the same barriers. Genetic variation was
assessed by estimating genome-wide genetic diversity (HO), demographic
history, phylogeographic structure, and phylogeographic concordance among
taxa. Population pairs flanking the GRV showed higher FST and more
distinct population clusters in PCA than those separated by the BNV. HO
was broadly consistent across populations, excluding noticeable reductions
in two populations (one population each in two separate species). The
overall phylogenetic signature and concordance across study taxa supported
populations separated by the BNV as sister and populations southeast of
the GRV as most distinct.