Conservation in the southern edge of Tetrao urogallus distribution: gene flow despite fragmentation in the stronghold of Cantabrian Capercaillie

FAMELLI ALBERTO; MORÁN- LUIS MARÍA; R RODRIGUEZ MUÑOZ; QUEVEDO MARIO; BAÑUELOS MARÍA JOSÉ; MIROL PATRICIA

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2017 vol. 63 p. 58 - 70

1612-4642

Abstract: The Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) is an endangered subspecies of WesternCapercaillie, endemic of northern Spain, in the southwestern limit of the species range. Assessing geneticvariability and the factors determining it is crucial in order to develop an effective conservation strategy. Wegenotyped non-invasive samples collected in some of the best preserved areas inhabited by Cantabrianwork, separated by valleys with different levels of anthropic habitat modifications. We did not find evidenceof genetic clustering, which suggests that fragmentation and development in the area do not act as barriers togene flow. Nonetheless, we found significant differences among sampling zones in terms of their allelicfrequencies (global FST= 0.035, p = 0.001). Pairwise FST comparisons showed differences between allsampling zones included, except between the two ones located in the South (Degaña and Alto Sil). These findings, along with the results of individual based genetic differences, indicate that gene flow among sampling zones might be at least slightly compromised, except between the two zones located in the South.Despite this, the sampling zones seem to exchange migrants at a rate that prevents genetic differentiation tothe point of creating clusters. Our results show that the capercaillies in the study area constitute a singleinterbreeding group, an important piece of information that helps us to better understand the dynamics of thisendangered subspecies.