In this study we investigated the phylogenetics of the Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris), a forest passerine with a wide Palaearctic range including Corsica, using three mitochondrial genes and three nuclear introns, and its phylogeographic history using the COI gene. Our phylogenetic results, including eight of the ten sub-species currently recognized, support the monophyly of C. familiaris with respect to its Indo-Asian sister species C. hodgsoni. C. familiaris comprises two lineages that diverged during the mid-Pleistocene (c. 1 Myr): one palaeoendemic lineage has an allopatric range nowadays restricted to the Corsica island and the Caucasus region whereas the second one, more recent and widespread, is distributed over most of Eurasia and in northern China. The most likely scenario that may explain such a pattern is a double colonization of the western Palaearctic from the eastern range of the species. During the middle Pleistocene period, a first lineage expanded its range up into Europe but did not persist through glacial cycles except in Corsica and the Caucasus region. Later, during the upper Pleistocene, a second lineage began to diversify around 0.09 Myr, spreading towards the western Palaearctic from a unique refuge likely located in the eastern Palaearctic [correction added on 6 March 2015 after first online publication: 0.9 Myr amended to 0.09 Myr]. Apart from C. f. corsa, our results do not suggest any distinct evolutionary history for other sub-species previously described on morphological grounds in Europe. Our study highlights the important conservation value of the Corsican treecreeper and emphasizes the major role of mature pine forests in the evolution of endemic bird taxa in Corsica.

The Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) comprises two mitochondrial lineages that diverged during the mid-Pleistocene. One paleoendemic lineage has an allopatric range currently restricted to the Island of Corsica and the Caucasus region, whereas the second one has a very large Eurasian range. Here we used microsatellites (N = 6) and mitochondrial DNA (COI) to assess the genetic structure of insular and mainland populations from Corsica, mainland France and Central Italy (N = 258) and the level of mitochondrial and nuclear gene flow among these populations. Concordant with the mtDNA signal, microsatellites results clearly demonstrate that the Corsican population (C. f. corsa) is strongly divergent from nearby mainland populations (C. f. macrodactyla). Microsatellite data also support significant divergence and low gene flow between the Central Italian and mainland French populations. Our results suggest low nuclear gene flow from the mainland into Corsica and no mitochondrial gene flow. Sporadic gene flow from the nearby mainland may explain the presence of continental nuclear alleles in the genome of 5% of sampled insular birds. Our study confirms the existence of an endemic Corsican treecreeper lineage with important conservation value. Our results also imply that Eurasian treecreepers from Central Italy constitute a distinct management unit.

An increasing number of marine animals are equipped with biologgers, to study their physiology, behaviour and ecology, often for conservation purposes. To minimise the impacts of biologgers on the animals’ welfare, the Refinement principle from the Three Rs framework (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) urges to continuously test and evaluate new and updated biologging protocols. Here, we propose alternative and promising techniques for emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) capture and on-site logger deployment that aim to mitigate the potential negative impacts of logger deployment on these birds. We equipped adult emperor penguins for short-term (GPS, Time-Depth Recorder (TDR)) and long-term (i.e. planned for one year) deployments (ARGOS platforms, TDR), as well as juvenile emperor penguins for long-term deployments (ARGOS platforms) in the Weddell Sea area where they had not yet been studied. We describe and qualitatively evaluate our protocols for the attachment of biologgers on-site at the colony, the capture of the animals and the recovery of the devices after deployment. We report unprecedented recaptures of long-term equipped adult emperor penguins (50% of equipped individuals recaptured after 290 days). Our data demonstrate that the traditional technique of long-term attachment by gluing the biologgers directly to the back feathers causes excessive feather breakage and the loss of the devices after a few months. We therefore propose an alternative method of attachment for back-mounted devices. This technique led to successful year-round deployments on 37.5% of the equipped juveniles. Finally, we also disclose the first deployments of leg-bracelet mounted TDRs on emperor penguins. Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring potential impacts of biologger deployments on the animals and the need to continue to improve methods to minimize disturbance and enhance performance and results.

An increasing number of marine animals are equipped with biologgers, to study their physiology, behaviour and ecology, often for conservation purposes. To minimise the impacts of biologgers on the animals’ welfare, the Refinement principle from the Three Rs framework (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) urges to continuously test and evaluate new and updated biologging protocols.Here, we propose alternative and promising techniques for emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) capture and on-site logger deployment that aim to mitigate the potential negative impacts of logger deployment on these birds. We equipped adult emperor penguins for short-term (GPS, Time-Depth Recorder (TDR)) and long-term (i.e. planned for one year) deployments (ARGOS platforms, TDR), as well as juvenile emperor penguins for long-term deployments (ARGOS platforms) in the Weddell Sea area where they had not yet been studied.We describe and qualitatively evaluate our protocols for the attachment of biologgers on-site at the colony, the capture of the animals and the recovery of the devices after deployment. We report unprecedented recaptures of long-term equipped adult emperor penguins (50% of equipped individuals recaptured after 290 days). Our data demonstrate that the traditional technique of long-term attachment by gluing the biologgers directly to the back feathers is detrimental to the birds. It causes excessive feather breakage and the loss of the devices at an early stage. We therefore propose an alternative method of attachment for back-mounted devices. This technique led to successful year-round deployments on 37.5% of the equipped juveniles. Finally, we also disclose the first deployments of leg-bracelet mounted TDRs on emperor penguins.Our findings highlight the importance of monitoring potential impacts of biologger deployments on the animals and the need to remain critical towards established and new protocols.

No abstract