Genetic variation among endangered Irish red grouse (Lagopus lagopus hibernicus) populations: implications for conservation and management

McMahon, Barry J.; Johansson, Magnus; Piertney, Stuart B.; Buckley, Kieran; Höglund, Jacob

doi:10.1007/s10592-011-0314-x

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This also corresponds with the conservation status of willow grouse subspecies. Although willow grouse represents a common species throughout most of its range, some populations and subspecies inhabiting islands have been are classified as locally threatened, such as red grouse on Ireland ( Lagopus hibernicus ; McMahon et al ., ). However, our data suggest that none of these threatened populations, nor the large continental subspecies would classify as reciprocally monophyletic for mtDNA, which has been suggested to be a criterion for assigning ESU‐status to subspecies (Moritz, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, there have been few genetic studies covering large parts of the range of this almost circumpolar species and the subspecies classifications are based on morphological criteria that may be subjected to phenotypic plasticity and clinal variation. The willow grouse is a species that is characterized by large outbreeding populations harbouring large amounts of genetic variation (Berlin, Quintela & Höglund, 2008), although isolated populations that have lost genetic variability have been described (Gyllensten, 1985;Freeland et al, 2007;McMahon et al, 2012). Willow grouse of both sexes normally attain an all white winter plumage, whereas females are camouflaged grey/brown during the summer and males develop a similar brownish nuptial plumage on the neck, breast, and back.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogeography of willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) in the Arctic: taxonomic discordance as inferred from molecular data

Höglund

Wang

Axelsson

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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Using independently segregating nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mitochondrial control region sequences, we found an east–west division among sampled willow grouse Lagopus lagopus subspecies. This division cut across the range of the subspecies with the largest distribution (lagopus) and thus contradicted existing taxonomic classifications. Russian Lagopus lagopus lagopus tended to cluster with North American willow grouse partly classified as other subspecies. Scandinavian willow grouse (L. l. lagopus) clustered with red grouse from Britain and Ireland (Lagopus lagopus scoticus and Lagopus lagopus hibernicus) but substructuring confirmed the monophyly of the latter. In North America, we could not detect any major genetic divisions apart from two birds described as alexandrae from the Heceta Island (Alaska) when using mitochondrial sequences. Other samples from North America were intermingled regardless of whether they were described as muriei, alexandrae or lagopus. A specimen described as alexandrae was to some extent distinct when analysing the SNP data. The genetic analyses indicated some concordance between genetics and taxonomy but not complete congruence. This is particularly evident for mitochondrial DNA network analyses. We suggest that the taxonomy of this species would benefit by a careful re‐examination of the available evidence for subspecies. It appears as if subspecies status is a poor proxy for assigning evolutionary significant units and management units in this species. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110, 77–90.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography of willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) in the Arctic: taxonomic discordance as inferred from molecular data

Höglund

Wang

Axelsson

et al. 2013

Biol J Linn Soc Lond

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“…In the case of the willow grouse within Eurasia, we observed that its range during the LIG was constricted to only the most northern latitudes. Large open bodies of water are enough to prevent grouse admixture, such as that between Ireland and Scotland (McMahon, Johansson, Piertney, Buckley, & Höglund, 2012) or the Aleutian Islands (Holder, Montgomerie, & Friesen, 2000). The White Sea that separates the European range from the East Asian range may have prevented extensive gene flow, giving rise to the Scandinavian and Asian lineages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past and potential future population dynamics of three grouse species using ecological and whole genome coalescent modeling

Kozma

Lillie

Benito

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Studying demographic history of species provides insight into how the past has shaped the current levels of overall biodiversity and genetic composition of species, but also how these species may react to future perturbations. Here we investigated the demographic history of the willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus), rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), and black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) through the Late Pleistocene using two complementary methods and whole genome data. Species distribution modeling (SDM) allowed us to estimate the total range size during the Last Interglacial (LIG) and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as well as to indicate potential population subdivisions. Pairwise Sequentially Markovian Coalescent (PSMC) allowed us to assess fluctuations in effective population size across the same period. Additionally, we used SDM to forecast the effect of future climate change on the three species over the next 50 years. We found that SDM predicts the largest range size for the cold‐adapted willow grouse and rock ptarmigan during the LGM. PSMC captured intraspecific population dynamics within the last glacial period, such that the willow grouse and rock ptarmigan showed multiple bottlenecks signifying recolonization events following the termination of the LGM. We also see signals of population subdivision during the last glacial period in the black grouse, but more data are needed to strengthen this hypothesis. All three species are likely to experience range contractions under future warming, with the strongest effect on willow grouse and rock ptarmigan due to their limited potential for northward expansion. Overall, by combining these two modeling approaches, we have provided a multifaceted examination of the biogeography of these species and how they have responded to climate change in the past. These results help us understand how cold‐adapted species may respond to future climate changes.

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“…Where the approximate effective population size is slightly larger but still small (<100), for example Irish red grouse (McMahon et al. 2012 ), genetic divergence among discrete populations may exist, but a process of increased drift has occurred interfering with possible local adaption. In many respects, this may be the situation where conservation genetics or in the future genomics is most informative as concealed information can be obtained regarding the viability of existing fragmented populations and the presence of locally adaptive single nucleotide variations correlating with higher survival rates; for example, levels of heterozygosity may not be directly related to present census population size.…”

Section: Scenarios Where Genetic Data Can Be Informativementioning

confidence: 99%

How and why should we implement genomics into conservation?

McMahon

Teeling

Höglund

2014

Evolutionary Applications

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146

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Conservation genetics has provided important information into the dynamics of endangered populations. The rapid development of genomic methods has posed an important question, namely where do genetics and genomics sit in relation to their application in the conservation of species? Although genetics can answer a number of relevant questions related to conservation, the argument for the application of genomics is not yet fully exploited. Here, we explore the transition and rationale for the move from genetic to genomic research in conservation biology and the utility of such research. We explore the idea of a ‘conservation prior’ and how this can be determined by genomic data and used in the management of populations. We depict three different conservation scenarios and describe how genomic data can drive management action in each situation. We conclude that the most effective applications of genomics will be to inform stakeholders with the aim of avoiding ‘emergency room conservation’.

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Genetic variation among endangered Irish red grouse (Lagopus lagopus hibernicus) populations: implications for conservation and management

Cited by 9 publications

References 38 publications

Phylogeography of willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) in the Arctic: taxonomic discordance as inferred from molecular data

Phylogeography of willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) in the Arctic: taxonomic discordance as inferred from molecular data

Past and potential future population dynamics of three grouse species using ecological and whole genome coalescent modeling

How and why should we implement genomics into conservation?

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