Environmental factors influence both abundance and genetic diversity in a widespread bird species

نویسندگان

  • Yang Liu
  • Simone Webber
  • Katharine Bowgen
  • Lucie Schmaltz
  • Katharine Bradley
  • Peter Halvarsson
  • Mohanad Abdelgadir
  • Michael Griesser
چکیده

Genetic diversity is one of the key evolutionary variables that correlate with population size, being of critical importance for population viability and the persistence of species. Genetic diversity can also have important ecological consequences within populations, and in turn, ecological factors may drive patterns of genetic diversity. However, the relationship between the genetic diversity of a population and how this interacts with ecological processes has so far only been investigated in a few studies. Here, we investigate the link between ecological factors, local population size, and allelic diversity, using a field study of a common bird species, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). We studied sparrows outside the breeding season in a confined small valley dominated by dispersed farms and small-scale agriculture in southern France. Population surveys at 36 locations revealed that sparrows were more abundant in locations with high food availability. We then captured and genotyped 891 house sparrows at 10 microsatellite loci from a subset of these locations (N = 12). Population genetic analyses revealed weak genetic structure, where each locality represented a distinct substructure within the study area. We found that food availability was the main factor among others tested to influence the genetic structure between locations. These results suggest that ecological factors can have strong impacts on both population size per se and intrapopulation genetic variation even at a small scale. On a more general level, our data indicate that a patchy environment and low dispersal rate can result in fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity. Given the importance of genetic diversity for population viability, combining ecological and genetic data can help to identify factors limiting population size and determine the conservation potential of populations.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Native and alien plant species inventory and diversity in disturbed forests and its economic value

The study was conducted to assess the native and alien plant species in one of the highly disturbed forest (S1) and less disturbed forest (S2) in Mt. Manunggal, Cebu Island, Philippines. Twenty-four quadrats with a size of 20mx20 m were established using a quadrat sampling technique to identify and record all plant species. Diversity indices were utilized to determine species abundance, richnes...

متن کامل

Diversity of bird's communities on dumpsite and sewage stabilization ponds of Moshi Municipal, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Urban development is rapidly expanding across the globe and is a major driver of environmental change. It is important to understand how bird species responds to urbanization. Therefore I conducted a qualitative study of birds associated with waste sites such as dumpsite and sewage stabilization ponds was carried out on Moshi municipal. The study assessed the diversity between dumpsite and sewa...

متن کامل

تأثیر اندازه و شکل لکه‌های درخت‌زار ‌بر غنا و تنوع گونه‌ای پرندگان در منطقه حفاظت شده کرکس

  Determining landscape parameters influencing species richness of habitat patches is one of the most important issues in conservation biology. Many previous studies have investigated the influence of habitat parameters on bird assemblages in forest patches, but studies seeking effects of oasis parameters on bird assemblages are very scarce. Karkas Protected Area is located in semi-arid zone in...

متن کامل

Effects of environmental factors on species diversity of rotifers using biodiversity indicators and canonical correlation analysis (CCA)

Rotifers are microscopic aquatic animals of phylum Rotifera, live in a diverse range of aquatic habitats. They are important in ecology of freshwater ecosystems by recycling nutrients and can alter trophic dynamic of planktonic communities. These features have also been used to infer environmental conditions in an aquatic habitat. Because of the important roles of this group of animals in the t...

متن کامل

Understorey bird responses to the edge-interior gradient in an isolated tropical rainforest of Malaysia

Forest fragmentation results in a loss of forest interior and an increase in edge habitat. We studied how understorey bird community composition and habitat variables changed along an edge-to-interior gradient in a 1248-ha lowland rainforest patch in peninsular Malaysia. Birds and environmental variables such as vegetation structure and litter depth were detected within a 25-m radius of each of...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 3  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2013