Migratory Connectivity of a Songbird: Population Genetics Reveal the Wintering Locations of the American Redstart ...

• Main Author: Connell, Eileen Bernadette
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Maryland Shared Open Access Repository 2017
• Subjects: control region; migratory connectivity; mtDNA; Newfoundland; population genetics
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/m2phfg-6ytf; http://mdsoar.org/handle/11603/15551

Migratory connectivity is a term used to describe how breeding populations are geographically connected to winter populations for a migrating species. Determining the strength of migratory connectivity is important for a number of basic and applied research questions related to the ecology and evolution of migratory species. Population genetics, particularly neutral genetic markers, are often used to measure migratory connectivity for species that are too small to carry transmitters. Previous analyses of genetic variation in the American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), a Neotropical-Nearctic migrant that breeds in North America and winters in Middle America, revealed unique mitochondrial haplogroups mostly restricted to Newfoundland. I determined the geographic distribution of this population in winter and whether it remains separate or intermixes with other populations of redstarts on the Caribbean winter range. To assess the migratory connectivity of the Newfoundland haplogroup, I sequenced the ...