Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle
The white-tailed eagle is a formerly threatened raptor that is commonly used as a flagship and indicator species in conservation work. This thesis uses molecular genetic methods to study sex determination of nestlings, genetic variability, population structure and phylogeography of the white-tailed...
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Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för evolution, genomik och systematik
2006
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ftuppsalauniv:oai:DiVA.org:uu-6911 2023-05-15T16:30:18+02:00 Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle Hailer, Frank 2006 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-6911 eng eng Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för evolution, genomik och systematik Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1651-6214 190 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-6911 urn:isbn:91-554-6581-1 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Biology Haliaeetus albicilla microsatellites mtDNA molecular sexing population structure bottleneck phylogeography raptors Biologi Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis text 2006 ftuppsalauniv 2023-02-23T21:44:21Z The white-tailed eagle is a formerly threatened raptor that is commonly used as a flagship and indicator species in conservation work. This thesis uses molecular genetic methods to study sex determination of nestlings, genetic variability, population structure and phylogeography of the white-tailed eagle. Fourteen microsatellite markers were developed and tested for the white-tailed eagle. A method to sex white-tailed eagle nestlings in the field is presented. The method is based on just one tarsus measure, and is suitable for situations where a single person is handling the nestlings alone in a treetop. Most European white-tailed eagle populations underwent extreme declines during the 20th century. The results presented here show that bottlenecked populations have maintained significant levels of genetic diversity. Gene flow between regions is not a main explanation for this, as indicated by both genetic and ringing data. Instead, the long generation time of white-tailed eagles has acted as an intrinsic buffer against rapid loss of genetic diversity. Additionally, local conservation led to protection of more genetic diversity than if conservation had focused on the large remnant population in Norway. Mitochondrial DNA of white-tailed eagles is structured in two main clades with a predominantly eastern and western Eurasian distribution. The clades likely correspond to separate Ice Age refugia but do not grant classification as evolutionary significant units given their current extensive overlap across large parts of Eurasia. Microsatellite variation was studied in populations across Eurasia. Variability was rather constant across the continent, but clearly lower on Iceland and Greenland. This is best explained by founder effects during their colonisation, but only weak bottlenecks during colonisation of and persistence on the continent. Current population differentiation between Europe and eastern Eurasia is not compatible with a zero gene flow model but requires some amount of gene flow over evolutionary time ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Greenland Haliaeetus albicilla Iceland White-tailed eagle Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) Greenland Norway |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Uppsala University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftuppsalauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology Haliaeetus albicilla microsatellites mtDNA molecular sexing population structure bottleneck phylogeography raptors Biologi |
spellingShingle |
Biology Haliaeetus albicilla microsatellites mtDNA molecular sexing population structure bottleneck phylogeography raptors Biologi Hailer, Frank Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
topic_facet |
Biology Haliaeetus albicilla microsatellites mtDNA molecular sexing population structure bottleneck phylogeography raptors Biologi |
description |
The white-tailed eagle is a formerly threatened raptor that is commonly used as a flagship and indicator species in conservation work. This thesis uses molecular genetic methods to study sex determination of nestlings, genetic variability, population structure and phylogeography of the white-tailed eagle. Fourteen microsatellite markers were developed and tested for the white-tailed eagle. A method to sex white-tailed eagle nestlings in the field is presented. The method is based on just one tarsus measure, and is suitable for situations where a single person is handling the nestlings alone in a treetop. Most European white-tailed eagle populations underwent extreme declines during the 20th century. The results presented here show that bottlenecked populations have maintained significant levels of genetic diversity. Gene flow between regions is not a main explanation for this, as indicated by both genetic and ringing data. Instead, the long generation time of white-tailed eagles has acted as an intrinsic buffer against rapid loss of genetic diversity. Additionally, local conservation led to protection of more genetic diversity than if conservation had focused on the large remnant population in Norway. Mitochondrial DNA of white-tailed eagles is structured in two main clades with a predominantly eastern and western Eurasian distribution. The clades likely correspond to separate Ice Age refugia but do not grant classification as evolutionary significant units given their current extensive overlap across large parts of Eurasia. Microsatellite variation was studied in populations across Eurasia. Variability was rather constant across the continent, but clearly lower on Iceland and Greenland. This is best explained by founder effects during their colonisation, but only weak bottlenecks during colonisation of and persistence on the continent. Current population differentiation between Europe and eastern Eurasia is not compatible with a zero gene flow model but requires some amount of gene flow over evolutionary time ... |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Hailer, Frank |
author_facet |
Hailer, Frank |
author_sort |
Hailer, Frank |
title |
Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
title_short |
Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
title_full |
Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
title_fullStr |
Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conservation Genetics of the White-Tailed Eagle |
title_sort |
conservation genetics of the white-tailed eagle |
publisher |
Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för evolution, genomik och systematik |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-6911 |
geographic |
Greenland Norway |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Norway |
genre |
Greenland Haliaeetus albicilla Iceland White-tailed eagle |
genre_facet |
Greenland Haliaeetus albicilla Iceland White-tailed eagle |
op_relation |
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1651-6214 190 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-6911 urn:isbn:91-554-6581-1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1766020019885441024 |