Biology subjects

Van Doren, B. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Van Doren, B. M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

A continental system for forecasting bird migration

Billions of animals cross the globe each year during seasonal migrations, but efforts to monitor them are hampered by the irregularity and relative unpredictability of their movements. We developed a bird migration forecast system with continental scope by leveraging 23 years of spring observations to learn associations between atmospheric conditions and bird migration intensity. Our models explained up to 81% of variation in migration intensity across the United States at altitudes of 0-3000 m, and performance remained high when forecasting events 24-72 h into the future (68-72% variation explained). We infer that avian migratory movements across the United States frequently exceed 200 million individuals per night and exceed 500 million individuals per night during peak passage. Accurately forecasting bird migration will allow stakeholders to reduce collisions with illuminated buildings, airplanes, and wind turbines, predict movements under climate change scenarios, and engage the public.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Comparative analysis examining patterns of genomic differentiation across multiple episodes of population divergence in birds

Heterogeneous patterns of genomic differentiation are commonly documented between closely related populations and there is considerable interest in identifying factors that contribute to their formation. These factors could include genomic features (e.g., areas of low recombination) that promote processes like linked selection (positive or purifying selection that affects linked neutral sites) at specific genomic regions. Examinations of repeatable patterns of differentiation across population pairs can provide insight into the role of these factors. Birds are well suited for this work, as genome structure is conserved across this group. Accordingly, we re-estimated relative (FST) and absolute (dXY) differentiation between eight sister pairs of birds that span a broad taxonomic range using a common pipeline. Across pairs, there were modest but significant correlations in window-based estimates of differentiation (up to 3% of variation explained for FST and 26% for dXY), supporting a role for processes at conserved genomic features in generating heterogeneous patterns of differentiation. This suggestion was reinforced by linear models identifying several genomic features (e.g., gene densities) as significant predictors of FST and dXY repeatability. FST repeatability was higher among pairs that were further along the speciation continuum (i.e., more reproductively isolated), suggesting that early stages of speciation may be dominated by positive selection that is different between pairs and replaced by processes acting according to shared genomic features as speciation proceeds.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

Correlated patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation across an avian family

Comparative studies of genomic differentiation among independent lineages can provide insights into aspects of the speciation process, such as the relative importance of selection and drift in shaping genomic landscapes, the role of genomic regions of high differentiation, and the prevalence of convergent molecular evolution. We investigated patterns of genetic diversity and divergence in stonechats (genus Saxicola), a widely distributed avian species complex with phenotypic variation in plumage, morphology, and migratory behavior, to ask whether similar genomic regions are important in the evolution of independent, but closely related, taxa. We used whole-genome pooled sequencing of 262 individuals from 5 taxa and found that patterns of genetic diversity and divergence are highly similar among different stonechat taxa. We then asked if these patterns remain correlated at deeper evolutionary scales and found that homologous genomic regions have become differentiated in stonechats and the closely related Ficedula flycatchers. Such correlation across a range of evolutionary divergence and among phylogenetically independent comparisons suggests that similar processes may be driving the differentiation of these independently evolving lineages, which in turn may be the result of intrinsic properties of particular genomic regions (e.g., areas of low recombination). Consequently, studies employing genome scans to search for areas important in reproductive isolation should account for corresponding regions of differentiation, as these regions may not necessarily represent speciation islands or facilitate local adaptation.

genomics↗