Do habitat and elevation promote hybridization during secondary contact between three genetically distinct groups of warbling vireo (Vireo gilvus)?

Following postglacial expansion, secondary contact can occur between genetically distinct lineages. These genetic lineages may be associated with specific habitat or environmental variables and therefore, their distributions in secondary contact could reflect such conditions within these areas. Here we used mtDNA, microsatellite, and morphological data to study three genetically distinct groups of warbling vireo (Vireo gilvus) and investigate the role that elevation and habitat play in their distributions. We studied two main contact zones and within each contact zone, we examined two separate transects. Across the Great Plains contact zone, we found that hybridization between eastern and western groups occurs along a habitat and elevational gradient, whereas hybridization across the Rocky Mountain contact zone was not as closely associated with habitat or elevation. Hybrids in the Great Plains contact zone were more common in transitional areas between deciduous and mixed-wood forests, and at lower elevations (<1000 m). Hybridization patterns were similar along both Great Plains transects indicating that habitat and elevation play a role in hybridization between distinct eastern and western genetic groups. The observed patterns suggest adaptation to different habitats, perhaps originating during isolation in multiple Pleistocene refugia, is facilitating hybridization in areas where habitat types overlap.