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Dryad

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

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Aug 16, 2024 version files 11.12 GB

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Abstract

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.