Genomic evidence of demographic fluctuations and lack of genetic structure across flyways in a long distance migrant, the European turtle dove.
Understanding how past climatic oscillations have affected organismic evolution will help predict the impact that current climate change has on living organisms. The European turtle dove, Streptopelia turtur, is a warm-temperature adapted species and a long distance migrant that uses multiple flyways to move between Europe and Africa. Despite being abundant, it is categorized as vulnerable because of a long-term demographic decline. We studied the demographic history and population genetic structure of the European turtle dove using genomic data and mitochondrial DNA sequences from individuals sampled across Europe, and performing paleoclimatic niche modelling simulations.



Overall our data suggest that this species is panmictic across Europe, and is not genetically structured across flyways. We found the genetic signatures of demographic fluctuations, inferring an effective population size (Ne) expansion that occurred between the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, followed by a decrease in the Ne that started between the mid Holocene and the present. Our niche modelling analyses suggest that the variations in the Ne are coincident with recent changes in the availability of suitable habitat.



We argue that the European turtle dove is prone to undergo demographic fluctuations, a trait that makes it sensitive to anthropogenic impacts, especially when its numbers are decreasing. Also, considering the lack of genetic structure, we suggest all populations across Europe are equally relevant for conservation.
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 82, Giessen, 35392, Germany. lucianocalderon@yahoo.com.ar.
Luciano
0000-0003-4223-0149
L
Calderón
Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA.|Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, 215 Tower Road, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Leonardo
L
Campagna
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 82, Giessen, 35392, Germany.
Thomas
T
Wilke
Unité Avifaune Migratrice, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Villiers en Bois, Chizé, 79360, France.
Hervé
H
Lormee
Unité Avifaune Migratrice, Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, Villiers en Bois, Chizé, 79360, France.
Cyril
C
Eraud
School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Joseph Banks Laboratories, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK.
Jenny C
JC
Dunn
Department of Agro-forestry Engineering, University of Extremadura, Avda. Virgen del Puerto 2, Plasencia, Cáceres, 10600, Spain.
Gregorio
G
Rocha
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, 2 Gagarin Street, Sofia, 1113, Bulgaria.
Pavel
P
Zehtindjiev
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Forestry and Natural Environment, PO Box 241, Thessaloniki, 541 24, Greece.
Dimitrios E
DE
Bakaloudis
Birdlife Malta, Triq Abate Rigord, Ta' Xbiex, XBX 1120, Malta.
Benjamin
B
Metzger
Instituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Via Ca' Fornacetta 9, Ozzano Dell'Emilia, (BO), 40064, Italy.
Jacopo G
JG
Cecere
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 82, Giessen, 35392, Germany.
Melanie
M
Marx
Department of Animal Ecology & Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 82, Giessen, 35392, Germany.
Petra
P
Quillfeldt
D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D057231:Climate Change; D010856:Columbidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005060:Europe; D040342:Genetic Structures; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D023281:Genomics
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
Climate change; Conservation; Demography; Genomics; Migratory birds; Paleoclimatic niche modelling; Population genetic structure