Stable Isotopes Suggest Low Site Fidelity in Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) in Mongolia: Implications for Disease Transmission.
Population connectivity is an important consideration in studies of disease transmission and biological conservation, especially with regard to migratory species. Determining how and when different subpopulations intermingle during different phases of the annual cycle can help identify important geographical regions or features as targets for conservation efforts and can help inform our understanding of continental-scale disease transmission. In this study, stable isotopes of hydrogen and carbon in contour feathers were used to assess the degree of molt-site fidelity among Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) captured in north-central Mongolia. Samples were collected from actively molting Bar-headed Geese (n= 61), and some individual samples included both a newly grown feather (still in sheath) and an old, worn feather from the bird's previous molt (n= 21). Although there was no difference in mean hydrogen isotope ratios for the old and new feathers, the isotopic variance in old feathers was approximately three times higher than that of the new feathers, which suggests that these birds use different and geographically distant molting locations from year to year. To further test this conclusion, online data and modeling tools from the isoMAP website were used to generate probability landscapes for the origin of each feather. Likely molting locations were much more widespread for old feathers than for new feathers, which supports the prospect of low molt-site fidelity. This finding indicates that population connectivity would be greater than expected based on data from a single annual cycle, and that disease spread can be rapid even in areas like Mongolia where Bar-headed Geese generally breed in small isolated groups.
Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, 111 East Chesapeake Street, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA.
Eli S
ES
Bridge
Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, 111 East Chesapeake Street, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA; Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA.
Jeffrey F
JF
Kelly
Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, 101 David L. Boren Boulevard, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA; Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, 136 George Lynn Cross Hall, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, USA.
Xiangming
X
Xiao
Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, Undram Plaza, 33 toot, Bayanzurkh Duureg, Ulaanbaatar, 210349, Mongolia.
Nyambayar
N
Batbayar
Ornithological Laboratory, Institute of Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Jukov Avenue, Ulaanbaatar, 210351, Mongolia.
Tseveenmyadag
T
Natsagdorj
Division of Comparative Medicine, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building 16-719, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA.
Nichola J
NJ
Hill
U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, 505 Azuar Drive, Vallejo, California, 94592, USA.
John Y
JY
Takekawa
University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Penryn Campus, Treliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, England, U.K.
Lucy A
LA
Hawkes
Bangor University, School of Biosciences, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, England, U.K.
Charles M
CM
Bishop
School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England, U.K.
Patrick J
PJ
Butler
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases, No. 3 Nguyen Gia Thieu Street, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Scott H
SH
Newman
Anser indicus; Bar-headed Goose; annual cycle; avian influenza; carbon; connectivity; deuterium; epidemiology; feather isotopes; molt
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