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Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE, 5(7), p. e35257, 2012

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035257

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Vocal Communications and the Maintenance of Population Specific Songs in a Contact Zone

Journal article published in 2012 by Jonathan T. Rowell, Maria R. Servedio ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Bird song has been hypothesized to play a role in several important aspects of the biology of songbirds, including the generation of taxonomic diversity by speciation; however, the role that song plays in speciation within this group may be dependent upon the ability of populations to maintain population specific songs or calls in the face of gene flow and external cultural influences. Here, in an exploratory study, we construct a spatially explicit model of population movement to examine the consequences of secondary contact of populations singing distinct songs. We concentrate on two broad questions: 1) will population specific songs be maintained in a contact zone or will they be replaced by shared song, and 2) what spatial patterns in the distribution of songs may result from contact? We examine the effects of multiple factors including song-based mating preferences and movement probabilities, oblique versus paternal learning of song, and both cultural and genetic mutations. We find a variety of conditions under which population specific songs can be maintained, particularly when females have preferences for their population specific songs, and we document many distinct patterns of song distribution within the contact zone, including clines, banding, and mosaics.