The great tit HapMap project: A continental‐scale analysis of genomic variation in a songbird

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The code to reproduce the results is available on Github: https://github.com/lgs85/SpurginBosse_Hapmap. The data, including the Plink-formatted genotype files from all populations, and the downstream outputs are on Dryad: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w3r2280z5.A major aim of evolutionary biology is to understand why patterns of genomic diversity vary within taxa and space. Large-scale genomic studies of widespread species are useful for studying how environment and demography shape patterns of genomic divergence. Here, we describe one of the most geographically comprehensive surveys of genomic variation in a wild vertebrate to date; the great tit (Parus major) HapMap project. We screened ca 500,000 SNP markers across 647 individuals from 29 populations, spanning ~30 degrees of latitude and 40 degrees of longitude – almost the entire geographical range of the European subspecies. Genome-wide variation was consistent with a recent colonisation across Europe from a South-East European refugium, with bottlenecks and reduced genetic diversity in island populations. Differentiation across the genome was highly heterogeneous, with clear ‘islands of differentiation’, even among populations with very low levels of genome-wide differentiation. Low local recombination rates were a strong predictor of high local genomic differentiation (FST), especially in island and peripheral mainland populations, suggesting that the interplay between genetic drift and recombination causes highly heterogeneous differentiation landscapes. We also detected genomic outlier regions that were confined to one or more peripheral great tit populations, probably as a result of recent directional selection at the species' range edges. Haplotype-based measures of selection were related to recombination rate, albeit less strongly, and highlighted population-specific sweeps that likely resulted from positive selection. Our study highlights how comprehensive screens of genomic variation in wild organisms can provide unique insights into spatio-temporal evolutionary dynamics.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)European Research Council (ERC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

The great tit HapMap project: a continental‐scale analysis of genomic variation in a songbird

A major aim of evolutionary biology is to understand why patterns of genomic diversity vary within taxa and space. Large-scale genomic studies of widespread species are useful for studying how environment and demography shape patterns of genomic divergence. Here, we describe one of the most geographically comprehensive surveys of genomic variation in a wild vertebrate to date; the great tit (Parus major) HapMap project. We screened ca 500,000 SNP markers across 647 individuals from 29 populations, spanning ~30 degrees of latitude and 40 degrees of longitude – almost the entire geographical range of the European subspecies. Genome-wide variation was consistent with a recent colonisation across Europe from a South-East European refugium, with bottlenecks and reduced genetic diversity in island populations. Differentiation across the genome was highly heterogeneous, with clear ‘islands of differentiation’, even among populations with very low levels of genome-wide differentiation. Low local recombination rates were a strong predictor of high local genomic differentiation (FST), especially in island and peripheral mainland populations, suggesting that the interplay between genetic drift and recombination causes highly heterogeneous differentiation landscapes. We also detected genomic outlier regions that were confined to one or more peripheral great tit populations, probably as a result of recent directional selection at the species' range edges. Haplotype-based measures of selection were related to recombination rate, albeit less strongly, and highlighted population-specific sweeps that likely resulted from positive selection. Our study highlights how comprehensive screens of genomic variation in wild organisms can provide unique insights into spatio-temporal evolutionary dynamics

The birth of radio broadcasting: The matrix of science, technology and communication in the western world

Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the possibilities of three different types of wireless communication technology were made evident to the western world. Instead of uncritically presenting US-based accounts, this article delineates the relationship between radio technology and communication, moulded by the notion of modern science, which bears as a consequence the establishment of broadcasting as a mass phenomenon in western societies. The above-mentioned relationship is explained without downplaying at the same time the existence of relativism in particular social settings. Thus, the article is underpinned by the interplay among the cultural, economic and political factors that finally led to the development of radio broadcasting during the 'Roaring Twenties'. © 2013 Intellect Ltd Article

NECTAR EXPLOITATION BY SONGBIRDS AT MEDITERRANEAN STOPOVER SITES

Nectar exploitation by songbirds at Mediterranean stopover sites. The nectar use by songbirds in Europe is reported by many authors but several of them refer to local or occasional events on both introduced and native plants. A study carried out on Ventotene Island (Italy) shows that nectar could be an important food resource for migrants which land at stopover sites. In this study we investigated the distribution of nectar feeding behaviour at Mediterranean stopover sites in spring, checking 10 species for the presence of pollen on plumage during ringing activities carried out at 14 stopover sites placed in Spain, Italy and Greece. Moreover we investigated the possible relationship between nectar consumption by migrants and vegetation at three stopover sites, through the time budget analysis of 8 species during no-flight activities. Sylvia and Phylloscopus species were often found to use nectar, the former more frequently than the latter. However, nectar exploitation results usual only at 2 Mediterranean sites out of 14, Ventotene and Antikythira (Greece), while it seems to be common at African stopover sites. The analysis of time budget and the pattern of nectar feeding distribution at stopover sites suggests that in the Mediterranean region nectar consumption is most likely related to the youngest phases of vegetation, these possibly being richer in flowering plants potentially usable by songbirds