Data from: Genetic divergence is decoupled from ecological diversification in the Hawaiian Nesosydne planthoppers

Adaptive radiation involves ecological shifts coupled with isolation of gene pools. However, we know little about what drives the initial stages of divergence. We study a system in which ecological diversification is found within a chronologically well-defined geological matrix to provide insight into this enigmatic phase of radiation. We tested the hypothesis that a period of geographic isolation precedes ecological specialization in an adaptive radiation of host-specialized Hawaiian planthoppers. We examined population structure and history using mitochondrial and multiple independent microsatellite loci in a species whose geographic distribution on the island of Hawaii enabled us to observe the chronology of divergence in its very earliest stages. We found that genetic divergence is associated with geographic features but not different plant hosts and that divergence times are very recent and on the same timescales as the dynamic geology of the island. Our results suggest an important role for geography in the dynamics of the early stages of divergence.适应辐射（Adaptive radiation）指伴随基因库隔离的生态位转变。然而，学界对驱动分化初始阶段的核心机制仍知之甚少。本研究依托一个存在于年代学明确界定的地质框架内的生态分化系统，以期为解析适应辐射这一难解的早期阶段提供研究视角。我们以寄主专化的夏威夷飞虱适应辐射类群为研究对象，验证了“地理隔离阶段先于生态特化”的假说。针对该类群在夏威夷岛的地理分布特征，我们利用线粒体基因位点及多个独立微卫星位点，对其种群结构与演化历史展开分析，得以直接观察分化初始阶段的年代序列。研究结果显示，遗传分化与地理特征显著相关，但与寄主植物种类无关联；且分化时间极为新近，与该岛屿活跃的地质演化处于同一时间尺度。本研究结果表明，地理因素在分化早期的动态过程中发挥了重要作用。