Dissertation Research: Song Dialects, Mating Success and Gene Flow in Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Non Technical Abstract Song dialects, mating success and gene flow in mountain white-crowned sparrows Bird song is culturally transmitted; that is, young songbirds learn species-typical song by copying adults. Thus, geographic variations or song dialects (analogous to human accents) often arise. Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the evolutionary significance of song dialects. The predictions generated by these hypotheses differ in the proposed role of song dialect in male mating success and in the degree to which dialect groups are genetically distinct. The effects of song dialects on male reproductive success, and the role of dialects as barriers to mating, will be investigated in mountain white-crowned sparrows Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha. Molecular genetic techniques will be used to measure how song dialects produced by individual males affect their reproductive success (the number of offspring males sire in their own nests and in the population at large) and to assess interbreeding within and among different dialect populations. This research will specifically increase our knowledge of how song dialects affect mate choice and population structure in songbird species. More generally, an exciting link between cultural and biological evolution may be demonstrated. The effect of habitat fragmentation on dialect persistence and population structure will also be addressed, with possible implications for conservation biology.