Genetic differentiation of western capercaillie in the Carpathian Mountains: the importance of post glacial expansions and habitat connectivity

Abstract

Population structure and barriers to gene flow are important components for understanding the evolutionary history of a species. Here we study population structure and differentiation in the western capercaillie (Aves: Phasianidae) along the Carpathian Mountains. Further, we compared the levels of population differentiation among capercaillie from the Carpathian Mountains, Balkans (Bulgaria) and the boreal forest (Russia and Sweden) in order to reveal past and current processes which may influence population structure. Tissue samples, non-invasive faeces and feathers and toe pads from museum specimens were used for genetic analyses of mitochondrial (mtDNA) sequences and allelic variation at nine nuclear DNA (nDNA) microsatellite loci. Analyses of mtDNA sequences revealed a southern subclade within the northern clade. Within the northern clade, microsatellite data distinguished two groups: (1) Western Carpathian populations; and (2) Eastern Carpathian and boreal forest populations. Bulgarian populations constituted a third cluster corresponding to the southern phylogenetic subclade. The Western Carpathian populations showed a heterozygote deficiency. The analyses indicate that the abundant Eastern Carpathian populations share alleles with populations from the boreal forest suggesting a common origin of these populations since the last glacial period. On the other hand, the Western Carpathian populations have been isolated over a long period with only a few migrants from the east, thereby becoming differentiated from the eastern and northern populations. The southern populations have been isolated from the northern populations since the last glacial maximum. The molecular analyses did not support the currently recognised taxonomy at the subspecies level.

Conservation genetics of the capercaillie in Poland - Delineation of conservation units

“…Analysis of genetic differentiation and genetic structure thus gave rise to the suggestion that the Polish lowland populations (of the Augustowska and Solska Primaeval Forests) and the population from the Polish Carpathians should be treated at least as separate Management Units. This result corroborates an observation [65] which indicated that the Western Carpathian population is genetically differentiated from the boreal capercaillie. A similar pattern of genetic difference is shared by its sister species, the black grouse [66] and hazel grouse ( Terastes bonasia ) [67; 68].…”

“…hazel grouse [73]), two genetic populations are often identified. It is then possible that our study sampled a different genetic group from what was investigated previously [65]. Second, when K ≥3, isolation of the Solska Primaeval Forest (LUB) was evident, an observation also supported by PCA.…”

“…This corresponds with a previous study [70], indicating that birds from southern Norway are less differentiated genetically from Central European populations than from the capercaillie from Russia. Alternatively, recent microsatellite analysis has grouped birds from Sweden and Russia into a single cluster [65]. It is possible that this discrepancy could be explained by the postglacial recolonisation of the Scandinavian Peninsula from two directions: through a land bridge in the southwest and through Finland from the northeast [71; 72].…”

“…Although the population in the Babia Góra National Park (BPN) also showed a low level of genetic diversity, especially in terms of heterozygosity, this stronghold could still be connected with areas supporting the capercaillie population across the border in Slovakia. Indeed, limited genetic differentiation of capercaillie from Slovakia and Poland has been inferred recently [65] The private alleles found in the Babia Góra National Park population could indicate possible gene flow from Slovakia, or the capercaillie strongholds in the Polish Carpathians located to the west of BPN (in the Beskid Żywiecki hills).…”

Demography, genetic, and extinction process in a spatially structured population of lekking bird

“…inbreeding (compared to that reported in this species, Segelbacher et al 2002Segelbacher et al , 2003Rodríguez-377 Muñoz et al 2007, Klinga et al 2015). The effective population size at both lek and population 378 levels was low.…”