Genetic structure of Mediterranean chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) populations: conservation and management implications

Barbanera, Filippo; Marchi, Chiara; Guerrini, Monica; Panayides, Panicos; Sokos, Christos; Hadjigerou, Pantelis

doi:10.1007/s00114-009-0586-x

Cited by 14 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Piertney et al 2001;Segelbacher and Piertney 2007;Barbanera et al 2009). A recent study that quantified mitochondrial genetic diversity in choughs did not find any polymorphism in a 365 bp control region segment among 23 extant Welsh choughs and 19 museum specimens from across the British Isles, and concluded that all extant choughs in the UK form a single matrilineage (Kocijan and Bruford 2011).…”

Section: Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 93%

Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations

et al. 2012

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The red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) is of conservation concern in the British Isles and continental Europe, with historically declining populations and a highly fragmented distribution. We quantified the distribution of genetic variation within and among European populations to identify isolated populations that may need to be managed as demographically independent units, and assess whether individual populations are denuded of genetic diversity and so may show reduced viability. We genotyped 326 choughs from ten wild populations and 22 from one captive population at 16 nuclear microsatellite loci, and sequenced 34 individuals across three mitochondrial regions to quantify genetic structure, diversity and phylogeography. Microsatellite diversity was low (often \4 alleles per locus), but pairwise population differentiation was high (often D est [ 0.1), with a signature of isolationby-distance. Bayesian-inferred a posteriori genetic clusters coincided with a priori populations, supporting strong genetic structure. Microsatellites also allowed us to identify the probable origin of the captive choughs and one recently founded wild population. Mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity was low (p = 0.00103). Phylogeographic structure was consequently poorly resolved, but indicated that sampled continentalEuropean populations are ancestral to British Isles populations, which comprised a single clade. Our data suggest that British Isles chough populations are relatively isolated with infrequent gene flow and relatively genetically depauperate, potentially requiring genetic management. These findings should be integrated into conservation management policy to ensure longterm viability of chough populations.

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Section: Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 93%

Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations

et al. 2012

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“…All simulations were run with 10 6 iterations, following a burn-in period of 10 5 iterations, and replicated four times per each Kvalue. We assumed that the maximum number of populations (K) varied between 1 and 8, and calculated the optimal K value and the identification threshold (Q i = 0.90; cf., Vaha and Primmer 2006) to assign each individual to one or jointly to two clusters as in Barbanera et al (2009b).…”

Section: Microsatellite Dnamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also used analogous STR profiles of genetically homogeneous A. rufa (n = 30, Spain) and A. chukar (n = 30: Greece, Cyprus) (Barbanera et al 2010) as reference to test the East Anglian RLP population for the occurrence of hybrids between the two species. PCR conditions were as in Barbanera et al (2009b).…”

Section: Microsatellite Dnamentioning

confidence: 99%

Introductions over introductions: the genomic adulteration of an early genetically valuable alien species in the United Kingdom

et al. 2014

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Invasive alien species are a major cause of biodiversity loss. Nevertheless, non-native species can also contribute to conservation objectives. In 1673, the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), a galliform native to southwest Europe, was introduced from France (A. r. rufa) into the UK for hunting purposes. Nowadays, hunters constantly supplement natural populations of A. rufa in its native range with stocks of captive-bred individuals. Such birds are usually genetically unscreened, and human-mediated hybridization with the exotic chukar (Alectoris chukar) has undermined genomic integrity of the species. Alectoris rufa in the UK has never been genetically investigated, and birds from East Anglian estates with no modern history of supplementation offer a potential genomic backup for the highly polluted native-range A. r. rufa. We genotyped modern and ancient birds at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) level to determine present and past kinship between East Anglian and native-range A. rufa. We used Short Tandem Repeats (STR) and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers to identify A. rufa 9 A. chukar hybrids. The kinship of East Anglian birds with A. r. rufa was confirmed. No A. chukar introgression was found in ancient East Anglian A. rufa. Among modern partridges, we found birds with A. chukar mtDNA, and both STRs and RAPDs disclosed many A. rufa 9 A. chukar hybrids. While the genetic analysis pointed to the increase of diversity and decline of disparity over time within and among A. rufa populations, respectively, the conservation value of the resource historically introduced to the UK proved to have been quashed by three decades of recent releases of A. chukar and its A. rufa hybrids.

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“…An alternative explanation is that there is a continuous influx of hybrid birds into wild populations because of repeated (annual) and massive (3-4 millions/year in Spain) releases of captive-bred birds, and because of a high prevalence of hybrids in farms, with poor or no genetic control (hybrids have been detected in c. 63% of farms used for releasing partridges; Blanco-Aguiar et al 2008). Thus, even although few released birds would survive in the wild, massive releases conducted over many years in the same area would allow hybrid partridges to be maintained in wild breeding populations (Barbanera et al 2009b). Summarizing, the lower survival rate of hybrids could limit their spread into wild populations in the long term, but our data do not allow a complete demographic evaluation, because this lower adult survival could be compensated by a higher productivity.…”

Section: Hybridizationmentioning

confidence: 95%

Fitness consequences of anthropogenic hybridization in wild red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Phasianidae) populations

et al. 2011

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Hybridization is a widespread phenomenon, which plays crucial roles in the speciation of living beings. However, unnatural mixing of historically isolated taxa due to human-related activities has increased in recent decades, favouring levels of hybridization and introgression that can have important implications for conservation. The wild redlegged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Phasianidae) populations have recently declined and the releases of farm-reared partridges have become a widespread management strategy. The native range of the redlegged is limited to the south-west of Europe (from Italy to Portugal). This species does not breed in sympatry with the chukar partridge (A. chukar), whose range is Eurasian (from Turkey to China). However, red-legged partridges have often been hybridized with chukar partridges to increase the productivity of farmed birds, and game releases may have spread hybrid birds into the wild. In this study, we investigated the fitness (survival and breeding) differences between hybrid and ''pure'' red-legged partridges in a wild population located in central Spain. Incubation probability was similar in hybrids and ''pure'' partridges. Hybrid females laid larger clutches than ''pure'' ones, but hatching success did not differ between hybrid and ''pure'' partridges. Hybrid birds had lower survival rate than ''pure'' ones, mainly because of higher predation rates. Our results show that, despite lower survival, hybrid partridges breed in natural populations, so this could increase extinction risk of wild pure partridge populations, through releases of farmed hybrid birds. The consequences of continued releases could be of vital importance for the long term conservation of wild red-legged partridges.

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Genetic structure of Mediterranean chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) populations: conservation and management implications

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations

Pronounced genetic structure and low genetic diversity in European red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) populations

Introductions over introductions: the genomic adulteration of an early genetically valuable alien species in the United Kingdom

Fitness consequences of anthropogenic hybridization in wild red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Phasianidae) populations

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