BUILD-UP OF THE HIMALAYAN AVIFAUNA THROUGH IMMIGRATION: A BIOGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THEPHYLLOSCOPUSANDSEICERCUSWARBLERS

Abstract

The Himalayan mountain range is one of the most species-rich areas in the world, harboring about 8% of the world's bird species.In this study, we compare the relative importance of immigration versus in situ speciation to the build-up of the Himalayan avifauna, by evaluating the biogeographic history of the Phylloscopus/Seicercus warblers, a speciose clade that is well represented in Himalayan forests. We use a comprehensive, multigene phylogeny in conjunction with dispersal-vicariance analysis to discern patterns of speciation and dispersal within this clade. The results indicate that virtually no speciation has occurred within the Himalayas. Instead, several speciation events are attributed to dispersal into the Himalayas followed by vicariance between the Himalayas and China/Southeast Asia. Most, perhaps all, of these events appear to be pre-Pleistocene. The apparent lack of speciation within the Himalayas stands in contrast to the mountain-driven Pleistocene speciation suggested for the Andes and the East African mountains.

A review of the recent advances in the systematics of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea

“…Sibley and Ahlquist (1990) and Sibley and Monroe (1990) placed these genera in the subfamily Acrocephalinae together with many other genera, while Dickinson (2003) put them in the subfamily Phylloscopinae, together with Tickellia, Abroscopus, Eremomela, Sylvietta and Graueria. Neither of the classifications by Sibley and Ahlquist (1990), Sibley and Monroe (1990) or Dickinson (2003) are consistent with phylogenetic studies (Beresford et al, 2005;Alström et al, 2006;Johansson et al, 2007b;Fregin et al, 2012;Olsson et al, 2013a), although Graueria has not yet been studied phylogenetically. The most comprehensive phylogeny of Phylloscopidae to date (Johansson et al, 2007b) was based on two mitochondrial and one nuclear loci for 55 of the 68 species recognized at that time (Dickinson, 2003).…”

“…Neither of the classifications by Sibley and Ahlquist (1990), Sibley and Monroe (1990) or Dickinson (2003) are consistent with phylogenetic studies (Beresford et al, 2005;Alström et al, 2006;Johansson et al, 2007b;Fregin et al, 2012;Olsson et al, 2013a), although Graueria has not yet been studied phylogenetically. The most comprehensive phylogeny of Phylloscopidae to date (Johansson et al, 2007b) was based on two mitochondrial and one nuclear loci for 55 of the 68 species recognized at that time (Dickinson, 2003). Other studies based on smaller, but partly different datasets have been published (Richman and Price, 1992;Martens et al, 2004Martens et al, , 2008Olsson et al, 2004Olsson et al, , 2005Päckert et al, 2004Päckert et al, , 2009.…”

A multilocus molecular phylogeny for the avian genus Liocichla (Passeriformes: Leiothrichidae: Liocichla)

“…Diversification of Liocichla species in mainland Asia follows many of the patterns observed in other avian taxa in Asia. Southcentral China and Southeast Asia are in particular pivotal centers of origin for biodiversity of Asia, particularly for passerine birds [31,32,74], and these regions encompass the probable ancestral Miocene distribution for the Liocichla [10,11,31]. Only L. bugunorum and L. phoenicea exhibit Himalayan distributions and each has a sister taxon with a different non-Himalayan distribution (Central China and South China/Northern Indochina respectively).…”

“…The collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia and the resulting rise of the Himalayas, episodic climate change creating shifting precipitation patterns and periodic land bridge connections resulting from rising and falling sea levels [69][70][71][72] have all contributed to the biogeographical patterns found among Asian species [12,31,33,[73][74][75][76][77][78]. These events also likely played critical roles in the diversification of Liocichla in Asia.…”

The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity in Nepal: Current Knowledge, Lacunae, and Opportunities

“…Arthropods in the Indian Himalayas show both a unimodal hump, and a decrease in diversity from East to West congruent with changes in climatic factors [90]. Studies on several plant groups and insects showed that this high diversity was associated with in situ diversification caused by habitat fragmentation and climate oscillation resulting from the uplift of the Tibetan plateau and orogenesis of the Himalayas [86], whereas other research indicated that in situ diversification has not produced preponderance of the biota [91]. That the Himalayas are populated primarily by biota dispersed from elsewhere seems further plausible given its relatively low level of endemicity.…”