Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch
The Sierra Nevada Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch (SNGCRF; Leucosticte tephrocotis dawsoni) is a subspecies of Grey-crowned Rosy-Finch found in the Sierra Nevada and White Mountain ranges of California. This species, like others in the broader Rosy-Finch species complex, has specializations for living in the alpine regions above 12,000 ft. Although this subspecies has a limited range, there are populations living in distinct environments. We were interested in identifying if there has been local adaptation occurring between two populations of SNGCRF, those in Piute Pass in the Eastern Sierra and those that live on White Mountain Peak. These two areas are distinct in their temperatures (Piute Pass in warmer), the amount of snow experienced (Piute Pass gets more), and in their elevations (White Mountains is higher); all factors shown to be important to Rosy-Finch ecology.
Team: In collaboration with scientists at the University of California Santa Cruz we collected morphological measurements, feather samples, and blood samples. In a project led by Ruegg lab graduate student Erica Robertson, morphological and whole-genome sequencing data were integrated to identify what traits differed between the two populations and the underlying genetic architecture of those traits. Our study found that wing chord, beak characteristics, and feather morphology were different between birds living in Piute Pass than in the White Mountains. We also identified key genes related to these traits, as well as those that showed high genetic differentiation between the populations. This work is the first assessment of local adaptation in Rosy-Finches and one of the first in a high alpine species, contributing to our understanding of how these species survive in such extreme environments.