title: Reintroduction of the European Capercaillie from the Capercaillie Breeding Centre in Wisła Forest District: Genetic Assessments of Captive and Reintroduced Populations.
abstract: The Western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a specific bird species, which, despite its very broad distribution and large global population size, is highly endangered in many Western and Central European countries. According to the species situation, in many countries (including Poland), breeding and reintroduction programmes have been started. One of the most complex and large-scale reintroduction programmes was started in Bory Dolnośląskie Forest, and the Capercaillie Breeding Centre in Wisła Forest District was used as one of the sources of individuals for reintroduction. As genetic tools provide essential knowledge about species biodiversity, which is crucially important during the breeding process and reintroduction, both captive and reintroduced grouse populations were genetically analysed. We were particularly interested in genetic diversity of the individuals in both populations and the genetic relationship between them, as well as between them and other capercaillie representatives from their current range. To fulfil these goals we determined nine microsatellite loci along with a fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Genetic diversity parameters were moderate to high compared to populations from other Central and Western European countries. Both populations were clustered into three distinct genetic clades based on microsatellites. Phylogenetic analysis placed all mitochondrial haplotypes we revealed in the Eurasian clade. The present results will play an important role as they will help to preserve and maximize genetic diversity in captive populations, and will provide a basis for future monitoring of the reintroduction process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strzała
authors.affiliation: Division of Poultry Breeding, Institute of Animal Breeding, Faculty of Biology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kowalczyk
authors.affiliation: Division of Poultry Breeding, Institute of Animal Breeding, Faculty of Biology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Łukaszewicz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001947:Breeding; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D056727:Endangered Species; D005260:Female; D046094:Galliformes / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011044:Poland
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial