Segelbacher, G., Storch, I. & Tomiuk, J. 2003: Genetic evidence of capercaillie Tetrao urogallus dispersal sources and sinks in the Alps. - Wildl. Biol. 9: 267-273.
The aim of our study was to identify fine-scale genetic population structure of capercaillie Tetra urogallus populations in the Bavarian Alps, Germany. We studied five local populations and estimated genetic variation using 10 polymorphic microsatellite markers. We found no differences in the number of alleles per locus or the degree of heterozygosity between pairs of populations, but significant genetic variation among all populations. We detected significant genetic differentiation for pairs of populations separated by distances as short as 10 km. Genetically detected effective population sizes agreed with field data for relative population densities. Populations of peripheral study areas bordering the dairy-farming lowlands tended to show sink characteristics with immigration exceeding emigration. Our study confirmed that microsatellites have the potential to detect dispersal sources and sinks at a local scale and the results of studies like ours may help to develop improved, effective conservation plans for capercaillie.
Key words: dispersal, habitat fragmentation, microsatellites, Tetrao urogallus
Gernot Segelbacher* & Ilse Storch, Wildlife Research and Management Unit, Weihenstephan Center of Life and Food Sciences, TU Munich, Am Hochanger
13, D-85354 Freising, Germany and Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany - e-mail addresses: segelbacher@vowa.ornithol.mpg.de (Gernot Segelbacher); ilse.storch@t-online.de (Ilse Storch)
Jürgen Tomiuk, Institute for Anthropology and Human Genetics, University Tübingen, Wilhelmsstrasse 27, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany - e-mail: juergen.tomiuk@uni-tuebingen.de
*Present address: Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, D-78315 Radolfzell, Germany
Corresponding author: Gernot Segelbacher