Population assignment reveals low migratory connectivity in a weakly structured songbird

Understanding migratory connectivity is essential for determining the drivers behind population dynamics and for implementing effective conservation strategies for migratory species. Genetic markers provide a means to describe migratory connectivity, however they can be uninformative for species with weak population genetic structure, which has limited their application. Here, we demonstrated a genomic approach to describing migratory connectivity in the prothonotary warbler, Protonotaria citrea, a Neotropical songbird of conservation concern. Using 26,189 SNPs, we revealed regional genetic structure between the Mississippi River Valley and the Atlantic Seaboard with overall weak genetic differentiation among populations (FST = 0.0055; 95% CI: 0.0051 - 0.0059). Genetic variation had a stronger association with geographic rather than environmental factors, with each explaining 14.5% and 8.2% of genetic variation, respectively. By varying the numbers of genomic markers used in popul...

阐明迁徙连通性（migratory connectivity）对于解析种群动态背后的驱动因素、制定有效迁徙物种保护策略至关重要。遗传标记为描述迁徙连通性提供了可行手段，但对于种群遗传结构较弱的物种而言，这类标记往往信息量不足，这限制了其应用范围。本研究针对受保护关注的新热带鸣禽——原森莺（Protonotaria citrea），开发了一套基因组学分析方法以解析其迁徙连通性。我们利用26189个单核苷酸多态性（single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs），揭示了密西西比河流域与大西洋沿岸带之间存在区域遗传结构，尽管种群间整体遗传分化较弱（FST（Fixation Index）=0.0055；95%置信区间（confidence interval, CI）：0.0051–0.0059）。遗传变异与地理因素的关联强度显著高于环境因素，二者分别解释了14.5%与8.2%的遗传变异。通过调整种群分析中所用基因组标记的数量以