Genetic structure of a patchily distributed philopatric migrant: implications for management and conservation
Significant demographic fluctuations can have major genetic consequences in wild populations. The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) has suffered both population declines and range fragmentation during the second half of the 20th century. In this study we analysed multilocus microsatellite data to assess the genetic structure of the species. Our analysis revealed significant genetic structuring of lesser kestrel populations, not only at the cross-continental scale, but also regionally within the Central and Eastern (CE) Mediterranean region. We detected signs of genetic bottlenecks in some of the peripheral populations coupled with small effective population sizes. Values of genetic differenti…
Absence of spatial genetic structure in common dentex (Dentex dentex Linnaeus, 1758) in the Mediterranean Sea as evidenced by nuclear and mitochondrial molecular markers.
International audience; The common dentex, Dentex dentex, is a fish species which inhabits marine environments in the Mediterranean and Northeast Atlantic regions. This is an important species from an ecological, economic and conservation perspective, however critical information on its population genetic structure is lacking. Most samples were obtained from the Mediterranean Sea (17 sites) with an emphasis around Corsica (5 sites), plus one Atlantic Ocean site. This provided an opportunity to examine genetic structuring at local and broader scales to provide science based data for the management of fishing stocks in the region. Two mitochondrial regions were examined (D-loop and COI) along…
Using genetic markers to unravel the origin of birds converging towards pre-migratory sites
AbstractIdentifying patterns of individual movements in spatial and temporal scales can provide valuable insight into the structure of populations and the dynamics of communities and ecosystems. Especially for migrating birds, that can face a variety of unfavorable conditions along their journey, resolving movements of individuals across their annual cycle is necessary in order to design better targeted conservation strategies. Here, we studied the movements of a small migratory falcon, the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni), by genetically assigning feathers from individuals of unknown origin that concentrate in large roosts during the pre-migratory period. Our findings suggest that birds fro…