PAPER: Threatened species adaptability in ...

Can threatened species adapt in a restored habitat? No expected evolutionary response in lay date for the New Zealand hihi

December 2018

de Villemereuil P, Rutschmann A, Ewen JG, Santure AW, Brekke P 2019. Can threatened species adapt in a restored habitat? No expected evolutionary response in lay date for the New Zealand hihi. Evol Appl 12(3): 482-497.

ABSTRACT

Many bird species have been observed shifting their laying date to earlier in the year in response to climate change. However, the vast majority of these studies were performed on non-threatened species, less impacted by reduced genetic diversity (which is expected to limit evolutionary response) as a consequence of genetic bottlenecks, drift and population isolation. Here, we study the relationship between lay date and fitness, as well as its genetic basis, to understand the evolutionary constraints on phenology faced by threatened species using a recently reintroduced population of the endangered New Zealand passerine, the hihi (Notiomystis cincta).

KEYWORDS

conservation biology; laying date; Notiomystis cincta; phenology; quantitative genetics