MACNBR   00242
MUSEO ARGENTINO DE CIENCIAS NATURALES "BERNARDINO RIVADAVIA"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Geographically Independent Genetic Structure of the Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus)
Autor/es:
FAMELI, ALBERTO F.; MORÁN LUIS, MARÍA C.
Lugar:
Manaus
Reunión:
Congreso; X Neotropical Ornithological Congress, XXI Congresso Brasileiro de Ornitologia; 2015
Resumen:
The Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus: PHASIANIDAE) constitutes a peripheral subspecies inhabiting northern Spain. It is considered an Evolutionary Significant Unit under high extinction risk, living in patchily distributed high altitude forests. We extracted DNA from feces collected in five zones separated by valleys in the Western part of the Cantabrian Mountains, an area that includes many high quality habitat zones for the bird. We analyzed 9 microsatellite markers in order to assess the possibility of genetic structure and study the effect valleys may have on genetic variability. Global AMOVA showed that zones differ in terms of allele frequencies (p=0.005). Pairwise Fst comparisons between zones showed significant differences between them (alpha=0.01), except for the two in the South of the study area, indicating that the valley between them might not be acting as a barrier to gene flow. Genetic Interpolation gave similar results, with high values of genetic difference between all sampling zones except for the two located in the South. This suggests these zones could be managed as one. Bayesian analyses performed either taking or not into account geographic position of individuals divide the population in two-three clusters with gene flow between them. One of them seems to be more common in the Northwest, and other in the Southeast of the study area, but all of them can be found throughout the study area. This indicates that the valleys between zones do not act as barriers to capercaillies movements, and the differences between sampling zones in terms of allele frequencies may be maintained by behavioral traits rather than geographic barriers.