Assessing the origin, genetic structure and demographic history of the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in the introduced European range

Abstract

The common pheasant, a game species widely introduced throughout the world, can be considered as an ideal model to study the effects of introduction events on local adaptations, biogeographic patterns, and genetic divergence processes. We aimed to assess the origin, spatial patterns of genetic variation, and demographic history of the introduced populations in the contact zone of Central and Southeast Europe, using mitochondrial DNA control region sequences and microsatellite loci. Both types of molecular markers indicated relatively low to moderate levels of genetic variation. The mtDNA analyses revealed that common pheasants across the study area are divided into two distinct clades: B (mongolicus group) and F (colchicus group). Analyses of the microsatellite data consistently suggested a differentiation between Hungary and Serbia, with the pheasant population in Hungary being much more genetically homogeneous, while that of Serbia has much more genetic mixture and admixture. This cryptic differentiation was not detected using a non-spatial Bayesian clustering model. The analyses also provided strong evidence for a recent population expansion. This fundamental information is essential for adequate and effective conservation management of populations of a game species of great economic and ecological importance in the studied geographical region.

The screening method for use of wild pheasant feathers in the monitoring of environmental pollution with heavy metals

“…On the other hand, in the feathers of birds of prey from Finland and Pakistan, concentrations of Cd were two times higher, Pb was very diverse, but also higher, and Zn and Cr were similar 33 , 56 to Phasianus colhicus feathers. The results obtained by Janayedeh et al 57 on a house crow in the Klang area of the Malay Peninsula, which was characterized by rapid industrial development, the concentration of Pb was 4–6 times higher, Ni almost 10 times higher, and Zn 2 times higher compared to the researched pheasants.Bearing in mind the above results of the conducted analyses and the fact that species of poking in the soil birds lead a sedentary lifestyle by nature 58 , 59 , it seems necessary to compare the results of our research with the same family of birds. Data on pheasants are quite modest in this regard.…”

Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non-protected areas

“…For the locprior model-based analyses, we stratified the 120 km stretch of Ganges river in the study area into five continuous blocks (each block length ~24 km) based on earlier recorded swamp deer movement patterns in this landscape (Paul et al 2021). The optimal value of K was assessed using the "Evanno" method in STRUCTURE HARVESTER web version (Earl and vonHoldt 2012).The individuals were sorted as "pure" or "admixed" based on 70% ancestry coefficient threshold values (Ashrafzadeh et al 2021). We also used another Bayesian clustering approach implemented in program GENELAND version 4.0.3 (Guillot et al 2005) to assess spatial patterns of genetic structure without assuming admixture (Guillot et al 2005;De et al 2021).…”

Development and application of a multilingual electronic decision-support tool for risk screening non-native terrestrial animals under current and future climate conditions

“…Ammotragus lervia is native to North Africa and established in Croatia, Czechia, Italy and Spain following intentional introductions for hunting purposes (Šprem et al 2020). Phasianus colchicus, partly native to Europe, has a long history of introductions and re-introductions with populations established across the continent (Ashrafzadeh et al 2021). Both A. lervia and P. colchicus are highly adaptable and plastic in their use of available food resources, resulting in their distribution expanding rapidly (Hoodless et al 2001;Šprem et al 2020).…”

“…It has been observed that populations of P. colchicus in Croatia have been declining for the past 30 years. However, intended population reinforcements with captive-bred individuals may have negatively affected population size by outbreeding depression, introduction and fast spread of diseases and parasites from birds introduced from foreign sources (Ashrafzadeh et al 2021). As a result, it seems that further population expansion of this species is not to be expected under current conditions.…”