Back to Search
Start Over
Are European starlings breeding in the Azores archipelago genetically distinct from birds breeding in mainland Europe?
- Source :
- European Journal of Wildlife Research, European Journal of Wildlife Research, Springer Verlag, 2009, 56 (1), pp.95-100. ⟨10.1007/s10344-009-0316-x⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2009
- Publisher :
- HAL CCSD, 2009.
-
Abstract
- The European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) has recently been found to eat eggs of the endangered roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) in the Azores. Azorean starlings are considered an endemic subspecies (S. vulgaris granti), so we investigated how much genetic divergence has accumulated between the Azores and other European populations in order to assess whether lethal control measures might be possible, as previous experiments have found that taste aversion is not likely to be successful. For this purpose, we sequenced a region of the protein-coding mitochondrial gene ND2 for samples from six different populations. Of the 1,026 base pairs sequenced, 19 (1.7%) were variable and formed 15 different haplotypes. The Azores had high and significant genetic differentiation from all the other populations studied. Haplotype diversity was high in the mainland populations studied, ranging from 0.767 to 0.900, but there was no variation among the Azores samples, which were collected from a geographically broad region. Given the lack of genetic variability in the Azores birds and their abundance throughout the archipelago, lethal control on a local basis and as part of an integrated control plan can be seen as a reasonable measure to protect tern colonies.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Zoology
Conservation
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Subspecies
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
03 medical and health sciences
Genetic variation
European starling
14. Life underwater
Genetic variability
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Azores
030304 developmental biology
Nature and Landscape Conservation
0303 health sciences
Genetic diversity
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Ecology
biology.organism_classification
Genetic divergence
Sturnus
Archipelago
ND2
Tern
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16124642 and 14390574
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- European Journal of Wildlife Research, European Journal of Wildlife Research, Springer Verlag, 2009, 56 (1), pp.95-100. ⟨10.1007/s10344-009-0316-x⟩
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....269dafa147bf6c747b94bd77535d8a83