Is population structure in the European white stork determined by flyway permeability rather than translocation history?
European white stork are long considered to diverge to eastern and western migration pools as a result of independent overwintering flyways. In relatively recent times, the western and northern distribution has been subject to dramatic population declines and country-specific extirpations. A number of independent reintroduction programs were started in the mid 1950s to bring storks back to historical ranges. Founder individuals were sourced opportunistically from the Eastern and Western European distributions and Algeria, leading to significant artificial mixing between eastern and western flyways. Here we use mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA to test the contention that prior to translocation, eastern and western flyways were genetically distinct. The data show a surprising lack of structure at any spatial or temporal scale suggesting that even though birds were moved between flyways, there is evidence of natural mixing prior to the onset of translocation activities. Overall a high retention of genetic diversity, high N ef , and an apparent absence of recent genetic bottleneck associated with early 20th century declines suggest that the species is well equipped to respond to future environmental pressures.
Centre for Research and Conservation - Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp Koningen Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium ; School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University Murdoch, Western Australia, 6150, Australia.
Jill M
JM
Shephard
Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Edinburgh Zoo 134 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 6TS, UK.
Rob
R
Ogden
Institute of Zoology, Poznan University of Life Sciences Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland.
Piotr
P
Tryjanowski
Department of Ecology, Animal Ecology, Lund University SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
Ola
O
Olsson
Centre for Research and Conservation - Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp Koningen Astridplein 26, 2018, Antwerp, Belgium.
Peter
P
Galbusera
Admixture; Ciconia ciconia; population decline; population genetics; reintroduction