POPULATION GENETICS FOR ANIMAL CONSERVATION
| Programme List of Posters Abstracts Addresses Organizers and Committees Go to the workshop page at CEA (Click here to find the names of the people in the picture) |
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PROGRAMME (LMC = Last Minute Change)
Wednesday,
September 3
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15.00-19.30 |
Registration |
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19.30 |
Welcome dinner |
Thursday,
September 4
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7.30-8.00 |
Breakfast |
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8.30 |
Opening
address |
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Methods&Theory I: Invited presentations
- Chairman: Giorgio Bertorelle |
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9.00-10.00 |
Laurent Excoffier Recovery of the history of a species'
spatial expansion from molecular diversity (A1) |
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10.00-11.00 |
David Posada Network methods for intraspecific
phylogenies and nested clade analysis (A2) |
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11.00-11.30 |
Coffee break |
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11.30-12.30 |
Mark Beaumont Some applications of Bayesian modelling and data
analysis in Conservation Genetics (A3) |
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12.30
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Lunch |
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Methods&Theory II: Invited presentations
- Chairman: Cristiano
Vernesi |
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15.00-15-45 |
Eric Anderson Bayesian methods for inferring population
structure, hybridization, and migration using multilocus genetic data
(A4) |
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15.45-16.30 |
Peter Beerli Inference of population parameters
using the coalescence (A5) |
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16.30-17.00 |
Coffee break |
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17.00-17.45 |
Oscar Gaggiotti Statistical methods for the study
of metapopulation processes: Integrating genetic and non-genetic data (A6) |
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17.45-18.30 |
Gordon Luikart Statistical and population genomic
approaches in conservation genetics: Many methods, much potential uncertain
utility (A7) |
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19.30 |
Dinner |
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from 21.00 |
Practical software session (sign
up and indicate who would you like to contact) |
Friday,
September 5
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7.30-8.00
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Breakfast |
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Case Studies: Invited presentations - Chairman: Ettore Randi |
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9.00-9.30 |
Valerio Sbordoni Population genetics issues in conservation
and management of fish and butterflies (A8) |
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9.30-10.00 |
Gisella Caccone Can genetic studies help to ensure
the survival of the last giant tortoises on earth? (A9) |
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10.00-10.30 |
Michel Milinkovitch Genetic analysis of a successful repatriation
program: Giant Galápagos tortoises (A10) |
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10.30-11.00 |
Coffee break |
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11.00-11.30 |
Robert Fleischer Genetic methods and avian conservation:
bottlenecks, fragmentation and conservation units (A11) |
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11.30-12.00 |
Giorgio Bertorelle Patterns of genetic variation at
micro-geographic scales in five mammals in the Italian Alps, with management
implications (A12) |
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12.00-12.30 |
Mike Bruford Population genetics, conservation and management
of primates (A13) |
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12.30 |
Lunch |
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Participant session I – Chairman: Mike Bruford |
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14.30-14.45 |
Carlos Largiadčr The use of cDNA microarrays for studying
local adaptation in natural animal populations (A14) |
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14.45-15.00 |
Dave Coltman Using molecular markers to study quantitative
genetic variation in the wild (A15) |
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15.00-15.15 |
Adrian Munguía Vega MHC genes on the history and conservation
of the rare porpoise Vaquita (A16) |
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15.15-15.30 |
Massimo Pierpaoli Felis silvestris: taxonomic distinction between subspecies, hybridisation
and population structure in Europe (A17) LMC: Paper presented by Ettore
Randi |
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15.30-15.45 |
John Carlos Garza Population Structure and History of
Steelhead Trout in California (A18) |
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15.45-16.00 |
Claudio Ciofi Population genetics and management
of wild and captive populations of giant reptiles (A19) |
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16.00.16.15 |
Robin Moritz Estimating the number of colonies
in populations of social insects from microsatellite DNA data. An example
on Asian Apis species (A20) LMC: Paper presented by Bernhard
Kraus |
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16.15-16.45 |
Coffee break |
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Participant session II – Chairman: Claudio Chemini |
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16.45-17.00 |
Manuel Ruedi Population genetics and conservation
of the Azorean bat (Nyctalus azoreum) (A21) |
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17.00-17.15 |
Pierre Berthier Bayesian estimation of individual
inbreeding coefficients from multi-locus genotypes (A22) |
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17.15-17.30 |
Youssef Idaghdour Gene flow in great bustard populations
across the Straits of Gibraltar as elucidated from excremental PCR and mtDNA
sequencing (A23)
LMC: Canceled and replaced by Jeroen Van Houdt Identifying
native brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) by means of RAPD and mitochondrial
DNA (A53) |
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17.30-17.45 |
Elizabeth Hadly Variable genetic response of two
small mammals to late Holocene climatic change (A24) |
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17.45-18.00 |
David Tallmon Effective population size estimation
using approximate Bayesian methods with summary statistics. (A25) LMC: Canceled and replaced
by Andrea Gandolfi Genetic diversity and population structure of
Artic char, Salvelinus alpinus, from Trentino (Italy) (A54) |
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18.00-18.15 |
Peter Galbusera Out of equilibrium after recent habitat
fragmentation: can population demographic changes be predicted from species-specific
mobility? (A26) |
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18.15-18.30 |
Manuel Ruiz-Garcia Bayesian and coalescence analyses
reveal extreme different genetic trajectories and structures in two neotropical
superpredators: the cases of the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus)
and of the jaguar (Panthera onca) (A27) LMC: Paper presented
by Diana Alvarez |
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19.30
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Dinner |
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from
21.00 |
Practical software session (sign
up and indicate who would you like to contact) |
Saturday,
September 6
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7.30-8.00 |
Breakfast |
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General Topics, Trends and Controversies: Invited
presentations - Chairman:
Valerio Sbordoni |
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8.30-9.00 |
Michel Milinkovitch A critical examination of network methods and
rooting procedures (A28) |
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9.00-9.30 |
Craig Primmer Associations between individual genetic diversity
and fitness related traits in endangered salmon and trout populations (A29) |
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9.30-10.00 |
Louis Bernatchez Challenges in assessing genetic
biodiversity: an empirical illustration through recent research on salmonid
fishes (A30) |
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10.00-10.30 |
Kathryn Rodríguez-Clark Relationships between genetic variation
and phenotypic 'success': is more variation better? (A31) |
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10.30 |
Coffee break |
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11.00-11.30 |
Ettore Randi Population, conservation genetics
and management of game species (A32) |
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11.30-12.00 |
Gordon Luikart Origins and conservation of domesticated
livestock (A33) |
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12.00-12.30 |
Phillip Morin Trends in conservation genetics: changes
and advances in molecular marker applications (A34) |
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12.30 |
Lunch |
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Participant session III - Chairman: Heidi Hauffe |
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14.30-14.45 |
Rus Hoelzel Male and female dispersal behaviour,
and the population genetics of marine mammal species (A35) |
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14.45-15.00 |
Walter Salzburger The use of network tree approaches
for phylogeography and conservation (A36) |
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15.00-15.15 |
Peter Wandeler Temporal population genetics
in a red fox population following a rabies epidemic (A37) |
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15.15-15.30 |
Deusdedith Ishengoma Non-invasive determination of genetic
diversity and paternity analysis of African elephant (Loxodonta africana)
using genomic DNA micrisatellite markers (A38) |
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15.30-15.45 |
Gernot Segelbacher From isolation to connectivity -
conservation genetics of capercaillie (A39) |
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15.45-16.00 |
Carles Vilŕ Two hundred years in the history of Scandinavian
wolves: decline and recovery (A40) |
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16.00-17.00 |
Discussion and Conclusions |
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17.15 |
Wine-tasting and Workshop dinner |
Sunday,
September 7
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7.30-8.00 |
Breakfast |
LIST OF POSTERS
Koban E, Özkan E, Altunok V, Nizamlıoğlu M, Soysal
İ, Bruford MW and Togan İ
Genetic diversity within and among Turkish sheep
breeds, their domestication histories and conservation (A41)
Baus E, Darrock D and Bruford MW
Genetic diversity, reproduction and population viability
in Lusitanian sea stars (A42)
Beja-Pereira A, Ferrand N, Ertugrul O, Ouragh L
and Luikart G
Two African origins and extremely weak population
structure in donkeys revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequencing (A43)
Formia A and Bruford MW
Mixed stock analysis using Bayesian methods: a green
turtle feeding ground in the Gulf of Guinea (A44)
Gum B, Gross R, Rottmann O, Schroeder W and Kuehn
R
Population genetic structure of European grayling
(Thymallus thymallus L.) in Bavaria, southern Germany: implications
for conservation (A45)
Mikulíček P and Piálek J
Natural hybridization and introgression of Triturus
cristatus genetic traits into Triturus carnifex in the northern
part of its range (A46)
Ogden R, McEwing R and Shuttleworth C
Conservation genetics of the red squirrel, Scirius
vulgaris, in a refugial population on Anglesey, North Wales (A47)
Pierpaoli M, Putrella A, Sammarone L, Posillico
M and Randi E
Individual identification of brown bear (Ursus
arctos) from central Italy using non-invasive genetic sampling (A48)
Regnaut S, Evanno G and Goudet J
When, why and how to use the Structure software:
a simulation study (A49)
Dubey S, Ursenbacher S, Pellet J and Fumagalli P
Genetic structure of the European tree frog (Hyla
arborea) metapopulation in western Switzerland (A50)
Nembrini M, Regnaut S, Ursenbacher S and Fumagalli
L
Conservation genetic of the Viperine Snake (Natrix
maura, Colubridae) in its northeastern distribution area (A51)
Vähä J-P, Erkinaro J and Primmer CR
Genetic discrimination between wild and farmed Atlantic
salmon (Salmo salar) in the world’s most productive Atlantic salmon
river system (A52)
ABSTRACTS
A1
The signature of a range expansion on population
molecular diversity
Laurent Excoffier, Grant Hamilton
University of Bern, Switzerland
It has been long recognized that population demographic
expansions lead to distinctive features in the molecular diversity of populations.
However, recent simulation results suggested that a distinction could be made
between a pure demographic expansion in an unsubdivided population, and a
range expansion in a subdivided population, both leading to a large increase
in the total number of the individuals. In order to better characterize the
effect of a range expansion, we derive the distribution of the number of
mutation differences between pairs of genes (the mismatch distribution), the
heterozygosity, the average number of pairwise difference, and the fixation
index FST after an instantaneous range expansion in an infinite-island model.
These derivations are shown by simulation to lead to results qualitatively
similar to those one would obtain after a range expansion in a 2-dimensional
stepping-stone model. How these results can be used to estimate the parameters
of the range expansion (timing, size increase, immigration rate) is discussed.
An importance-sampling procedure for estimating underlying range expansion
parameters is also introduced.
A2
Network methods for intraspecific phylogenies and
nested clade analysis
David Posada
University of Vigo, Spain
Phylogenetic relationships at the intraspecific
level entail some particular features. Within species, it is common to find
genealogical multifurcations, reticulation and persistent ancestral nodes.
Often, traditional phylogenetic approaches like maximum parsimony, maximum
likelihood and distance methods are not able to display properly this information.
Phylogenetic networks methods have been developed to take into account these
particularities. Also, the temporal information encoded in these intraspecific
phylogenies can be used to separate population patterns and processes. The
nested clade analysis provides a statistical phylogeographic framework to
differentiate, in space and time, recurrent events like gene flow or system
of mating, from historical events like fragmentations or range expansions.
Such a method presents some advantages and disadvantages that will be discussed
here.
A3
Some applications of Bayesian modelling and data
analysis in Conservation Genetics
Mark A. Beaumont
School of Animal and Microbial Sciences,University
of Reading
This talk will give a brief overview of likelihood-based
and, specifically, Bayesian, inference in conservation genetics. I will then
talk about three current areas of research that interest me.
First, the general problem of estimating changes
in past population size using microsatellite data, including a discussion
of the effects of population structure, wrong demographic models, and wrong
mutation models. Secondly, the use of approximate Bayesian computation based
on summary statistic methods, and how these may have wide application to conservation
problems. Third, I will discuss recent collaborative work on Bayesian model-based
methods for assessing the degree of adaptive divergence of populations based
on genome scans.
A4
Bayesian methods for inferring population structure,
hybridization, and migration using multilocus genetic data
Eric Anderson
University of California, Berkeley, USA
Conservation of threatened populations and management
of invasive species can be facilitated by knowledge of population structure,
hybridization, and migration. Three closely related
methods for inferring these population features and processes have been developed
in the last three years and implemented in the freely available software programs,
Structure (Pritchard et al., 2000), NewHybrids (Anderson &
Thompson, 2002), and BayesAss (Wilson & Rannala, 2003). The statistical
models underlying these three methods are remarkably similar, with subtle,
but important, differences. I will begin by briefly
reviewing each of these methods, using the language of graphical models to
point out their similarities. Then, I will emphasize the differences between
the methods which dictate what types of sampling scenarios, time scales,
and population structures each method is best suited to.
Since all three approaches use Bayesian methods and Markov chain Monte
Carlo sampling to estimate parameters, I will discuss issues of sensitivity
to prior distributions assumed for the models and problems of poor mixing
of the Markov chains. The latter will be discussed
in the context of a short demonstration of the data-visualization capabilities
of the program NewHybrids.
A5
Inference of population parameters using the coalescence
Peter Beerli
University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Conservation biology is dependent on accurate description
of present and past population parameters, such as population size and migration
rate between subpopulations among others. In recent years coalescence theory
revitalized population genetics and several groups developed methods to infer
population genetics parameters allowing for a variety of complications such
as unequal migration rates, and changing population size. My talk will give
a short overview about the coalescent, and discuss how these methods can not
only be used to infer traditional parameters but they also allow to compare
migration models and explore effects of missed populations in a rigid maximum
likelihood framework and that they might even be effective in estimating parameters
of subpopulation where one cannot gather data.
A6
Statistical methods for the study of metapopulation
processes: Integrating genetic and non-genetic data
Oscar Gaggiotti
University of Helsinki, Finland
Dispersal is one of the fundamental processes in
metapopulation biology. The use of purely ecological approaches such as mark-release-recapture
methods is time consuming and can only be used on a limited number of species.
Population genetic methods, on the other hand, are of more general applicability.
Some studies have used them to identify the source populations that contributed
individuals to newly colonised habitat patches. However, it is also possible
to go beyond the simple estimation of parameters and test hypothesis about
the factors that control colonisation processes. This requires the integration
of genetic and non-genetic data, which is achieved using a Bayesian approach.
In my lecture I will first present a brief review of studies that have used
genetic data to infer colonisation patterns. I will then introduce Bayesian
methods that integrate multilocus genetic data with other sources of information
in order to make inferences about the factors that control colonisation processes.
A7
To be announced
Gordon Luikart
University of Grenoble, France
A8
Population genetics issues in conservation and
management of fish and butterflies
Valerio Sbordoni
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy
In this talk I shall attempt to highlight some issues
that are seldom considered in the conventional context of the “conservation
genetics” and that, in my view, demand more awareness to broaden and emphasize
the role of population genetics as a helpful tool in the conservation and
management of biodiversity. Still today the wide majority of studies in conservation
are focused on endangered species of mammals, birds and reptiles. However
the scope of conservation biology is not only that one to protect endangered
species and habitats, but also that one of preserving the genetic diversity
and the ecological and evolutionary processes to which they are connected.
This is particularly important when attempts are done to bring together the
scope of conservation to the needs of a sustainable use of biodiversity. I
shall present a few examples based on invertebrates, namely butterflies and
cave dwelling organisms, and fish. In the context of conservation, invertebrates
are significant for several reasons. They represent the very core of biodiversity.
Many invertebrates are umbrella species, strictly depending upon the whole
community health and some of them can show immediate responses to environmental
changes, namely to global climate changes. Compared to most vertebrates,
invertebrates are more finely tuned with landscape features, particularly
at small geographical scale. Provided that mapping biodiversity is an important
challenge for the forthcoming years, invertebrates appear to be in pole position
to represent the main descriptors in biodiversity maps. I guess that in the
future invertebrates will play a major role in research in the newly established
field of Landscape Genetics, linking metapopulation concepts to environmental
planning of fragmented habitats. On the other hand, fish are important to
outline problems of sustainable harvest from natural populations and aquaculture
that are intimately interconnected with conservation of genetic resources.
The demise of salmon and trout in the western United States has become a
conservation crisis of enormous biological, economical, and political significance.
The need for management of salmonid stocks has therefore stimulated a huge
amount of research in the field. Besides lessons from salmonids, I shall
discuss a study case concerning sea bass where a complex life history combined
with historical changes of the coastline in the Mediterranean Sea produced
a genetic structuring of populations and a complex assortment of genotypes
that has been understood only by using proper markers. Results from this
study emphasize the importance of contrasting neutral vs. adaptive markers,
since they tell different histories on population structure suggesting appropriate
strategies for conservation and management of sea bass and, possibly, other
catadromous fish.
A9
Can genetic studies help to ensure the survival
of the last giant tortoises on earth?
Gisella Caccone
Yale University, New Haven, USA
In the past eight years I have been working together
with a large international team of scientists on the evolutionary genetics
of the two last giant tortoises on earth, the Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises.
For the Giant Galápagos Tortoise (Geochelone nigra), we have amassed
a collection of over 3000 blood samples from the remaining natural populations
as well as some samples from captive animals of unknown origin, and bone and
skin samples from extinct populations. Our genetic
work on this collection has consisted of both mtDNA and nuclear intron sequencing,
plus microsatellite analysis. We have derived a fairly good understanding
of many aspects of the history of this group including its phylogeny and
phylogeographic history combined with geological knowledge of the formation
of the islands. We are defining genetically distinct populations (taxa) and
determining levels of gene flow among them. Similarly, we have been studying
the evolutionary origin of the only extant tortoises in the Indian Ocean,
the Aldabra tortoise, Geochelone dussumerii, an trying to evaluate
levels of genetic diversity and its evolutionary relationships to other extant
and extinct tortoises from the Indian Ocean. These data have been used to
understand the history of the group but also to help develop conservation
strategies. I will present several examples of how genetic data are used
in these giant reptiles to develop management strategies for captive and
wild populations based on a multidisciplinary approach.
A10
Genetic analysis of a successful repatriation program:
Giant Galápagos tortoises
Michel C. Milinkovitch*, Daniel Monteyne*, James
P. Gibbs†,
Thomas H Fritts§, Washington Tapia, Howard L. Snell§‡,
Ralph Tiedemann**,
Adalgisa Caccone††, and Jeffrey R. Powell††
* Free University of Brussels, Gosselies, Belgium;
† State University of New York, Syracuse, NY; § Charles Darwin Foundation,
Galápagos National Park Service, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador;
‡ University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico; ** University of Potsdam,
Golm, Germany; †† Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
As natural populations of endangered species dwindle
to precarious levels, remaining members are sometimes brought into captivity,
allowed to breed, and their offspring returned to the natural habitat. One goal of such repatriation programs is to retain as
much of the genetic variation of the species as is possible. A taxon of giant Galápagos tortoises on the island of Espańola
has been the subject of a captive breeding-repatriation program for 33 years. Core breeders, consisting of 12 females and three males,
have produced more than 1200 offspring that have been released on Espańola
where in situ reproduction has recently been observed. Using
microsatellite DNA markers, we have determined the maternity and paternity
of 132 repatriated offspring. Contributions of the
breeders are highly skewed. This has led to a further
loss of genetic variation that is detrimental to the long-term survival of
the population. Modifications to the breeding program
could alleviate this problem.
A11
Genetic methods and avian conservation: bottlenecks, fragmentation and conservation units
Robert Fleischer
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, USA
Genetic methods can be applied to issues of avian
conservation in a variety of ways. Neutral genetic markers can be used to
assess inbreeding levels, genetic variation, population structure and phylogenetic
or conservation units. Non-neutral genetic systems can be useful for assessing
the potential adaptability of a population to environmental change or translocation.
Birds are thought to be more coarse-grained in associations with their environment,
and so local adaptation may not be considered as much of a factor as with
invertebrates or plants. Endangered bird populations can become highly fragmented
and decrease to very low levels, and ensuing genetic bottlenecks could impact
fitness. However, flight provides most birds with greater powers of dispersal
and thus gene flow is higher and may mitigate these impacts. Interactions
with infectious disease may be one of the greatest conservation problems facing
birds, as evidenced by introduced pathogens (malaria, pox) in Hawaii and
West Nile Virus in the U.S. I discuss how genetic analyses may be used to
provide information relevant to conservation and management, and provide several
case studies for illustration.
A12
Patterns of genetic variation at micro-geographic
scales in five mammals in the Italian Alps, with management implications
Giorgio Bertorelle (1), Elena Pecchioli (1, 2),
Barbara Crestanello (1, 2), Francesca Davoli (2), David Caramelli (3), Cristiano
Vernesi (1), Heidi Hauffe (2)
1. Department of Biology, University of Ferrara,
Italy
2. Centre for Alpine Ecology, Trento, Italy
3. BIOSFERA – Conservation Biology Research and
Education, Florence, Italy
Using sequence variation at the mitochondrial control
region (D-loop) and allele frequencies at ten microsatellite nuclear markers,
we analyzed patterns of genetic variation in five mammals species in the Autonomous
Province of Trento (Italy): chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), roe deer
(Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), European
brown hare (Lepus europaeus) and mountain hare (Lepus timidus).
All these game species are presently widespread throughout the Province;
however, they suffered a strong size reduction in the last century as a result
of a remarkable transformation in land use and over-exploitation. Subsequent,
uncontrolled restocking have probably also affected the native populations
and their genetic composition. For all five species, at least four different
samples were considered, each consisting of about 25 specimens, collected
from populations separated by geographic distances of between 20 and 100
kilometers. Genetic divergence can be observed even at this micro-geographic
scale. The relationship between the patterns of genetic variation, the ecological
characteristics of the different species, and the estimated levels of anthropogenic
impact in the sampling areas, is discussed.
A13
Population genetics, conservation and management
of primates
Mike Bruford
University of Cardiff, UK
The study of primate social structures has occupied
ecologists and anthropologists for decades. New molecular markers and the
necessary statistical framework to analyse molecular data has already had
a large impact on this discipline. We are now able to investigate questions
that could in many cases not satisfactorily be answered with previous approaches.
For example, paternity analysis allows the determination of reproductive success
for specific individuals or specific reproductive tactics and therefore contributes
to a large extent to our understanding of sexual selection and reproductive
strategies of the sexes. Kinship analysis enables us to investigate the evolution
of social behaviour and cooperation, the differential impact of relatedness
on the quality of social relationships and the risks and avoidance strategies
of inbreeding. By employing non-invasive techniques of sampling we can remotely
monitor natural populations. We can follow individuals and social units over
time and space and can reconstruct life-history strategies such as natal
and breeding dispersal. Finally, we can measure the genetic differentiation
in neighboring social groups and the amount of gene flow among them and other
populations.
The broad applications of these new molecular techniques
will develop their full potential through the synergistic effects that emerge
from the collaboration between two disciplines, molecular ecology and behavioral
ecology. Only the knowledge of long-term socio-ecological and behavioral data
collected in natural populations allows us to fully interpret the genetical
data and vice versa. Using three examples from recent primate studies in our
laboratory to exemplify studies of paternity, dispersal and demographic structure
I will discuss these approaches and identify problems and prospects for such
analysis in the medium term.
A14
The use of cDNA microarrays for studying local adaptation
in natural animal populations
Carlos Largiadčr(1), T Giger(1), PJR Day(2)
Laurent Excoffier(1)
1 University of Bern, Switzerland
2 Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research,
University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13
9PT, UK
The cDNA microarray technology has
been emerging as a powerful tool to monitor gene expression of thousands of
genes simultaneously. The
technology has been indeed developed as a search tool for candidate genes
rather than to investigate the evolutionary significance of gene expression
diversity itself. In particular, individual gene expression diversity has
been so far considered as a nuisance parameter that has often been ignored,
for instance by pooling RNA-samples of several individuals. However, the
fundamental unit of the evolutionary process is the individual. Any selection
process acting on levels of gene expression is thus fuelled by inter-individual
differences, which are therefore of central importance for studying local
adaptation. We shall discuss how to take into account gene expression variability
at the level of individuals in experimental design and in statistical analyses
in general, showing that already existing statistical methodologies can
be adapted to analyze cDNA microarray data. These methodologies will be applied
to the particular case of investigating possible genetic determinants of
local adaptation in freshwater fish populations of brown trout (Salmo
trutta).
A15
Using molecular markers to study quantitative genetic
variation in the wild
Dave Coltman
University of Sheffield, UK
Traits underlying fitness and adaptation to changing
environmental conditions are generally quantitative in nature. A quantitative
genetic approach is therefore the mot direct avenue towards a better understanding
of the adaptive potential of populations that are under conservation threat.
Inferences about genetic variances can be made using either analytical methods
based on molecular pedigrees or through marker-regression techniques that
consider the covariance of trait similarity and inferred relatedness. The
relative merits of these approaches are compared using empirical data from
two wild ungulate populations. We estimated the heritabilities of life-history
and morphometric traits related to fitness using microsatellite based pedigree
and relatedness estimates from bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis; Ram
Mountain, Canada) and alpine ibex (Capra ibex; Parco Gran Paradiso,
Italy). Pedigree-based analyses using an “animal model” approach generated
significant heritability estimates with considerably less error than regression-based
estimators.
A16
MHC genes on the history and conservation of the
rare porpoise Vaquita
Adrian Munguía Vega(1), RS Flores(2), JR Vazquez(1),
BL Rojas(3)
1 Marine Pathology Department, CIBNOR, La Paz, Mexico
2 Laboratory of Molecular Ecology, Marine Biology
Department, UABCS, La Paz, BCS, Mexico
3 Programa Nacional de Mamíferos Marinos, CICESE,
Km 107 Carretera Ensenada–Tijuana, Ensenada, BC, Mexico
The Vaquita, Phocoena sinus, is an endemic
and endangered porpoise restricted to the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico.
The unique population is estimated to be less than 600 individuals, and has been subject of an incidental mortality in fishnets
at least since 1940’s. Molecules of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)
play a key role in the immune response of vertebrates. We studied the single
stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) of a DNA fragment corresponding
to the Pepetide Binding Region (PBR) of a MHC locus. All individuals (n=25)
showed to be homozygous for a single allele at the DQB locus analyzed, which
along with a lack of polymorphism in the mitochondrial control region previously
assesed, indicated a striking high degree of relatedness between the members
of this wild population. This results translates in a high susceptibility
to novel pathogens. Different analitic and computer demographic scenerios
were simulated, and the results indicated a likely historic efective population
size of Ne ~500 at least during the last 10-15,000
years, that is only about twice the actual value (Ne ~250). This results support
the population was founded perhaps by few individuals during one of the glacial
periods of the Pleistoscene, constituing a historically small population
that shows some inbreeding related anormalities such as polydactyly present
in all the specimens analyzed so far. Althought, the population might have
already purged those deleterious alleles of higher effect preventing the
species to suffer from inbreeding depression, in contrast to some naturally
abundant populations recently reduced to low numbers.
A17
Felis silvestris: taxonomic distinction between subspecies,
hybridisation and population structure in Europe.
Massimo Pierpaoli(1), L Lapini(2), B Ragni(3), F
Vercillo(3), Ettore Randi(1)
1 Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica (INFS),
Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy
2 Friulian Museum of Natural History, via Marangoni,
39 – 41, 33100 Udine, Italy
3 Department of Animals Biology and Ecology, University
of Perugia, via Elce di Sotto, 06123 Perugia, Italy
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris)
is widely distributed through the continent with fragmented and isolated populations.
The subspecies F. s. libyca has been introduced by humans in Sardinia.
The domestic cat is widespread in Europe and is virtually sympatric with
wildcats almost everywhere. Domestic and wildcats can hybridise in the wild,
the hybrids are fertile and introgressed individuals can very difficult to
detect using morphological traits. Hybridisation could be one of the major
threats to the integrity of the wildcat gene pool. The unavailability of pure
populations of wildcats to be used for taxonomic purposes, made very difficult
any attempt to identify hybrid populations and/or hybrid individuals. Recently
the application to population genetics of Bayesian statistics, coupled with
the availability of data from highly variable microsatellite markers, offered
a new and fruitful approach to solve this problem. Wild and domestic cats
were sampled in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Bulgaria, Portugal, Scotland
and Switzerland. Moreover a number of known hybrids, obtained through crosses
in captivity, was added as a control. A set of 12 unlinked microsatellites
was used for the genetic screening. First or second generation hybrids could
be detected by Bayesian admixture analysis. Results suggest that hybridisation
may be widespread in some populations, while it is absent or marginal in other.
Finally, the genetic structure of local wildcat populations is discussed.
A18
Population structure and history of Steelhead Trout
in California
John Carlos Garza(1,2), R Williams(2)
1 NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Santa
Cruz Laboratory, USA
2 University of California Santa Cruz, Institute
of Marine Sciences, USA
Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
are the most wide-spread of the anadromous Pacific salmonids, ranging naturally
from Southern California in the US to Russia. In California, most populations
of steelhead are under protection of the US Endangered Species Act. Genetic
population structure and demographic history of coastal steelhead trout populations
in California are investigated using data from 18 microsatellite loci and
samples collected from more than 60 sites, covering almost the entire range
of the species in coastal California. The importance of such data in Endangered
Species Act recovery efforts will also be outlined. An improvement to a previously
published method for detecting recent reductions in effective population
size using population genetic data will also be presented, and the performance
of three methods will be compared. Error rates, recovery times, and effects
of migration are examined. The results emphasize the importance of using
multiple methods and suggest a way to detect migration into the focal population.
A method for estimating the number of alleles lost due to a reduction in
population size will also be presented.
A19
Population
genetics and management of wild and captive populations of giant reptiles
Claudio Ciofi(1,2), A Caccone(2), JR Powell(1)
1 Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale
University, New Haven USA
2 Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale University,
New Haven, USA
Description of population genetic structure is an
important parameter to consider in wildlife recovery initiatives. It is particularly
relevant to the conservation of island endemics that have endured both direct
and indirect threats associated with human activities. Augmentation programs,
for instance, can greatly benefit from knowledge of the genetic relationships
of both natural populations and captive stocks. Examples are here provided
from DNA studies of two reptile species, the Galápagos giant tortoise and
the Komodo monitor. In the first case, reconstruction of the evolutionary
history of populations in different volcanic areas is likely to impact management
decisions for in situ breeding programs. Similarly, genetic analysis
of wild and captive individuals can help determine the origin of monitor
lizards in ex situ breeding facilities, obtain missing pedigree data,
and therefore provide information for appropriate pairings and augmentation
plans.
A20
Estimating the number of colonies in populations
of social insects from microsatellite DNA data. An example on Asian Apis
species
Robin FA Moritz(1), N Koeniger(2), FB Kraus(1)
1 Institute of Zoology, Martin-Luther-Universität
Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
2 Institut für Bienenkunde Oberursel, Karl-von-Frisch-Weg
2, 61440 Oberursel, Germany
In honeybee populations (like in other social insects)
primarily the number of colonies rather than the actual number of individuals
in the population determines the effective population size. Often only few
colonies provide the majority of the males (Kraus et al. 2003) which causes
small effective population sizes in spite of large numbers of individuals
in the population. The estimation of the number of colonies which contribute
to the male gene pool is therefore a crucial parameter for honeybee conservation.
We here present a method where microsatellite DNA genotype data of worker
samples from colonies can be used to estimate the number of drone contributing
colonies in the population. A cluster analysis which is based on the allelic
identity by descent (AID) among drone genotypes is used to group potential
brother drones. For each “brother cluster” the corresponding mother queen
genotype is determined by Mendelian inference. We show
in various simulations that although limited number of screened loci can
result in slightly biased estimates the precision improves considerably with
increasing number of loci. With 10 loci and 10 alleles each only correct inferences
were made over a wide range of the parameter space. Empirical data from microsatellite
studies on several Asian Apis species will be presented to illustrate
the application of the procedure.
Kraus FB, Neumann P, Scharpenberg H, van Praagh
J, Moritz RFA, Male fitness of honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L.), Journal of Evolutionary Biology, in press.
A21
Population genetics and conservation of the Azorean
bat (Nyctalus azoreum)
P Salgueiro(1), MM Coelho(1), J Palmeirim(1), Manuel
Ruedi(2)
1 Dept of Zoology & Anthropology, University
of Lisbon, Portugal
2 Natural History Museum of Geneva, Switzerland
The Azorean bat Nyctalus azoreum is
the only endemic mammal native to the remote archipelago of the Azores. Because
of its restricted and highly fragmented distribution, it is considered as
a vulnerable species. To understand the evolutionary significance
of the remaining populations of N. azoreum, we studied the
genetic variability of 159 individuals from 21 breeding colonies sampled throughout
the archipelago. Sequences of the mitochondrial D-loop region revealed moderate
but highly structured genetic variability. Half of the 15 distinct haplotypes
were restricted to a single island but the more common one was found all
over the archipelago, suggesting a single colonisation event followed by
limited inter-island female gene flow. All N. azoreum haplotypes
were closely related and formed a star-like structure typical of populations
that experienced demographic expansion. Indeed, the mismatch distribution
of haplotypes within each island was compatible with such demographic models.
Using a molecular calibration of D-loop evolution, the inferred age of demographic
expansions is consistent with the unique arrival of founder animals during
the Holocene, i.e. before the first humans settled in the Azores.
Comparisons with a reference population of N. leisleri from continental Portugal not only confirmed that
all azoreum lineages are unique to the archipelago, but also
that level of genetic diversity is high for an insular species. Because the
current pattern of genetic diversity in N. azoreum is the
result of a long history of isolation, and because females apparently move
rarely among islands, local population extinctions may have dramatic effects
on the global preservation of this species.
A22
Bayesian estimation
of individual inbreeding coefficients from multi-locus genotypes
Pierre Berthier, Laurent Excoffier
University of Bern, Switzerland
Inbreeding is of major interest in conservation
genetics, because its increase in small populations is believed to influence
their probability of extinction. Many methods exist to estimate the average
level of inbreeding in a population, based on samples of multi-locus genotypes..
However, it could be very useful to know the inbreeding coefficient of each
individual in a sample, for example in studies of the correlation between
genetic variability and fitness, or in captive breeding programs. Individual
inbreeding levels are usually estimated from pedigree data, despite these
data are notoriously difficult to obtain. The (often partial) genealogies
of each individual allow one to estimate a ‘recent’ component of the inbreeding
coefficient. An other component, usually much more difficult to estimate,
corresponds to the ‘ancestral’ (sometimes called ‘remote’) inbreeding level
of the population. We propose here a new Bayesian method for jointly estimating
both recent and remote components of inbreeding from a sample of multi-locus
genotypes. We present a thorough evaluation of this method using simulations
and compare its performance to available methods, which do not consider separately
the two components of inbreeding. We show that in realistic simulation scenarios
our estimator has a much reduced associated mean square error.
A23
Gene flow in great bustard populations across the
Straits of Gibraltar as elucidated from excremental PCR and mtDNA sequencing
Youssef Idaghdour, A Broderick, A Korrida, Hellmich
Genetics Department, IFCDW, Agadir, Morocco
Recent advances in molecular biology have made it
possible to use the trace amounts of DNA in faeces to non-invasively sample
endangered species for genetic studies. Here we use
faeces as a source of DNA and mtDNA sequence data to elucidate the relationship
among Spanish and Moroccan populations of great bustards.
834bp of combined control region and cytochrome-b mtDNA fragments revealed
four variable sites that defined seven closely related haplotypes in 54 individuals. Morocco was fixed for a single mtDNA haplotype that occurs
at moderate frequency (28%) in Spain. We could not
differentiate among the sampled Spanish populations of Cáceres and Andalucía
but these combined populations were differentiated from the Moroccan
population. Estimates of
gene flow (Nm = 0.82) are consistent with extensive observations on the southern
Iberian peninsular indicating that few individuals fly across the Straits
of Gibraltar. We demonstrate that both this sea barrier
and mountain barriers in Spain limit dispersal among adjacent great bustard
populations to a similar extent. The Moroccan population is of high ornithological
significance as it holds the only population of great bustards in Africa. This population is critically small and genetic and observational
data indicate that it is unlikely to be recolonised via immigration from Spain
should it be extirpated. In light of the evidence
presented here it deserves the maximum level of protection.
A24
Variable genetic response of two small mammals to
late Holocene climatic change
Elizabeth A Hadly, Y Chan, M van Tuinen
Stanford University, USA
The influence of climatic change on genetic diversity
is an unanswered question in conservation biology. To
investigate this question, we estimated haplotype diversity for two small
mammals (Microtus montanus and Thomomys talpoides)
over the last 3000 years using ancient DNA. We tracked
genetic diversity of these species using a 312-bp fragment of cytochrome
b from fossils derived from a late-Holocene paleontological
site, Lamar Cave, which is located in Yellowstone National Park, USA. The late Holocene of Yellowstone witnessed warming and
cooling events such as the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period. Our data reveal that variation in species demography resulted
in different consequences for genetic diversity during these times of climatic
change, even with identical population size changes. With
decreasing population size due to environmental change, Thomomys
talpoides has life history traits that resulted in genetic isolation,
whereas Microtus montanus exhibited widespread gene flow. Thus, life history traits such as dispersal ability contribute
to the overall genetic diversity of species in both space and time. Because population-size reduction in common species with
different demographies will affect genetic structure in various ways, further
investigation into the role of life-history on maintaining genetic diversity
is imperative. Ultimately, such knowledge will lead
to distinct, and perhaps predictable, patterns of species persistence through
future environmental change, an insight that may prove invaluable to future
conservation of biodiversity.
A25
Effective population size estimation using approximate
Bayesian methods with summary statistics.
David Tallmon(1), Mark Beaumont(2), Gordon Luikart(1)
Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France
University of Reading, UK
The effective size of a population (Ne) is a critical
parameter to estimate in evolutionary and conservation studies. Small Ne populations suffer from inbreeding effects and
decreased ability to respond to selection, both of which can increase extinction
risks. Previous attempts to estimate Ne have focused
on either genotypic information or allelic information. Commonly
used methods include gametic disequilibrium, heterozygote excess, the temporal
method and M. It is desirable to develop a method that
combines both genotype and allele frequency information at multiple loci.
We used a recently developed Bayesian approach to approximate the likelihood
surface or posterior distribution for current and ancestral values of Ne.
The method uses simple summary statistics from combined multilocus genotypic
and allelic data taken from either one, or a number of temporally spaced samples
to estimate known Ne and changes in Ne. The advantages
of the approach over previous methods are a) it includes the use of multilocus
genotypic information in a likelihood-based framework, b) the method runs
relatively rapidly on a computer in contrast to many other Bayesian methods. We present results quantifying the performance of this
method relative to existing ones. This method should help scientists and managers to assess efficiently
and quickly the genetic and demographic risks faced by threatened populations.
A26
Out of equilibrium after recent habitat fragmentation:
can population demographic changes be predicted from species-specific mobility?
Peter Galbusera(1), L Lens(2), J Huyghe(1), M Githiru(3,4),
E Matthysen(1)
1 University of Antwerp, Belgium
2 Research Group Terrestrial Ecology, Department
of Biology, Ghent University, Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
3 Department of Ornithology, National Museums of
Kenya, PO Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya
4 Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Edward
Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
By comparing population equilibrium characteristics
of five bird species inhabiting a recently fragmented landscape in Kenya,
we examined how species-specific mobility affects population genetic responses
to habitat fragmentation. We therefore analysed microsatellite data from samples
collected in the same set of fragments. We checked the genetic structure of
the populations, evidence for recent genetic and demographic bottlenecks and
for changes in dispersal between subpopulations. Recent bottlenecks were detected
by comparing the genetic diversity of a population to the heterozygosity
expected under mutation-drift equilibrium. Changes in gene flow were found
by comparing ‘historical‘ estimates based on Fst to current estimates based
on mistnet (re)captures and genetic assignment tests. The genetic data on
the current samples also allowed to distinguish between a (meta)population
that is in migration-drift equilibrium versus a population that is under drift
alone. Using museum samples, we confirmed a bottleneck in the smallest subpopulation
of the Taita thrush, a local endemic with very low mobility. All three subpopulations
of the Yellow-throated woodland warbler, a more widely spread species, showed
evidence of a bottleneck and of a significant decrease in current versus
historic levels of dispersal. In contrast, three other species with relatively
high mobility showed no or limited genetic structure and no evidence for
recent changes in population genetic parameters. Hence, species with a relatively
high or low mobility were relatively unaffected, whereas the warbler, which
has an intermediate mobility, was most affected. This suggests that the effect
of habitat isolation depends on species mobility in a non-linear fashion.
A27
Bayesian and coalescence analyses reveal extreme
different genetic trajectories and structures in two neotropical superpredators:
the cases of the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and of the jaguar
(Panthera onca).
Manuel Ruiz-Garcia, P Orozco-Terwengel
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia.
In the Andean highlands, the spectacled bear is
the highest predator. At the neotropical rain forest
the jaguar is the most important predator. In the
first species, we analyzed 9 microsatellites, whereas in the second 18 microsatellites
were studied. Although, both organisms are superpredators,
their coalescence gene trajectories are extremely opposed.
Results were as follows: 1- The number of alleles per locus and the
heterozygosity was almost two-folds in the jaguar. 2- The
genetic heterogeneity between spectacled bear and jaguars populations was
extremely different. The first showed values of Fst
ranging from 0.127 to 0.262, meanwhile these values were 0.01 to 0.02 in
the jaguar. 3- The gene flow estimates agree quite well with this picture. The values for the Andean bear were noteworthy small indicating
isolation between the populations of this species (Nm = 0.273-1.170). Otherwise for the jaguar, these values oscillated from
3.09 to 12.13. 4- The analysis of the cryptic structure
revealed that in the spectacled bear different gene pools were detected
across the countries and only a very limited number of hybrids between these
pools were detected. Contrarily, for the jaguar only
two different gene pools were detected in an area were 6 different jaguar
subspecies had been defined. Individuals of both gene pools were found together
in a same locality. 5- The historical effective numbers were calculated for
both species (Nielsen, 1997). The estimates for jaguars
were higher than those obtained for the spectacled bear (15.000-18.000 individuals
versus 2430 individuals, respectively). 6- The Beaumont’s procedure to detect
population expansion and decline was employed. The bears offered constant
small effective numbers with a slight trend to decline in a 10-20%, whereas
jaguars yielded higher effective numbers with evidence to increase in a 18-30%
regard to the original populations.
A28
A critical examination of network methods and rooting
procedures
I. Cassens and M.C. Milinkovitch
Unit of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute of Molecular
Biology and Medicine, Free University of Brussels, rue Jeener & Brachet
12, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium; www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/ueg
We investigated the phylogeography and evolutionary
history of dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) using DNA sequences of
the full mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in 124 individuals from the putative
stocks off Peru, Argentina, and Southwest Africa. We analysed our mitochondrial
sequence data with several widely-used network estimation and rooting methods.
The resulting intraspecific gene genealogies and rooting inferences exhibited
substantial differences, underlying limitations of some algorithms. Given
that scientific hypotheses and management decisions strongly depend on inferred
tree or network topologies, there is a clear need for a systematic comparative
analysis of available methods
A29
Associations between individual genetic diversity
and fitness related traits in endangered salmon and trout populations
Craig R. Primmer1, Katriina Tiira1 and Jorma Piironen2.
1 Dept. of Ecology and Systematics, P.O. Box 65,
00014, University of Helsinki, Finland
2 Finnish Game And Fisheries Research Institute,
Finland.
Although a positive correlation between genetic
diversity (GD), as estimated by molecular markers, and fitness related traits
has been observed in a number of studies, this association is not universal.
Hence, it remains controversial if, or when, molecular marker variability
can be used as a surrogate measure for fitness. Another criticism of this
line of research is the fact that many studies addressing this issue have
been conducted in the captive environment, and hence their relevance to the
conservation of wild populations is unclear. Nevertheless, the captive environment
does offer some advantages for investigation of specific fitness related traits
that would be difficult or impossible to study in the wild. In this seminar,
I will present results from two studies on hatchery reared Atlantic salmon
(Salmo salar) and brown trout (S. trutta) which approach the analysis of
GD-fitness related trait associations from alternative angles. In one study,
experimental groups of salmon fry harbouring unusually high or low levels
of genetic variation were created, and it was then examined whether a behavioural
trait important for fitness (aggression) differed between the groups. In
a second study, salmon and trout stocks were partitioned into groups with
either extremely low fitness (presence of a severe morphological deformity)
or assumedly normal fitness (no obvious deformities) and then the levels
of genetic variation in the two groups were compared. The results from both
studies suggest that low levels of genetic variation may negatively affect
the fitness of individuals in these populations, most likely due to inbreeding
depression.
A30
Challenges in assessing genetic biodiversity: an
empirical illustration through recent research on salmonid fishes.
Louis Bernatchez
Laval University, Québec, Canada
Conservation geneticists are still facing many challenges
in terms of assessing genetic biodiversity and inferring its relevance for
management of natural populations. First, we still have to agree on the most
appropriate method to delineate relevant patterns of population structuring
for conservation purposes. In particular, the weak correlation that has been
reported between diversity at neutral markers and that at quantitative traits
has raised concerns regarding the usefulness of neutral markers for conservation.
This also stressed the need for documenting genetic structure at genes that
can be more informative in terms of adaptation. While this can be accomplished
by various methods, conceptual and practical limitations are still restraining
our ability to routinely apply them in most contexts. A second and related
important aspect that has been debated concerns the geographic scale of genetic
structuring that should be considered for management. This is not an easy
issue since most species are genetically structured in a hierarchical manner,
implying various levels of connectivity through gene flow. Thirdly, given
the accelerating pace of demographic and environmental changes to which organisms
are exposed, it is also becoming urgent for bioconservation to elucidate the
evolutionary processes responsible for shaping adaptative genetic diversity.
Using recent empirical studies on salmonid fishes, I will illustrate how conservation
efforts can be better deserved by; i) integrating both neutral and potentially
selected traits in studies of population structure and ii) considering the
significance of population structuring at various geographic scales. Finally,
I will show how recent empirical research on salmonid fishes is also contributing
to the understanding of processes that may be driving the maintenance of
adaptive genetic diversity.
A31
Relationships between genetic variation and phenotypic
'success': is more variation better?
Kathryn M Rodríguez-Clark
Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research, Caracas,
Venezuela
Despite long-standing interest in the area, controversy
still surrounds the causal relationships between molecular genetic variation
and phenotype-based measures of 'success.' While part of this disagreement
may come from truly open scientific questions, part may also arise from a
confusion of the different levels of organization at which genetic variation
and phenotypic 'success' may be conceptualized (individual vs. population),
and from mistakenly comparing the results of single-timepoint with longitudinal
studies. Single-timepoint studies generally fail to demonstrate strong relationships
between either standing heterozygosity and fitness/developmental stability
(as individual-level measures), or between standing gene diversity and additive
genetic variance (population-level ones). This may be due both to the equilibrium
assumptions which lead to the expectation of a relationship in a cross-section
of individuals or populations, as well as to inherent estimation error. In
contrast, longitudinal studies in both captivity and in nature routinely reveal
a decline in fitness or its correlates with a decline in heterozygosity, a
clear threat to short-term persistence on the individual level. Mechanisms
underlying this inbreeding depression remain unclear, however, such that the
conservation applications of these observations remain ad hoc. Recent results
from longitudinal experiments in captivity furthermore confirm the expected
decline in adaptive potential with declines in gene diversity, on the population
level. However, the sampling variance in this process appears to be large,
such that the threat this process poses to the long-term conservation of
any single population may be less important than other factors.
A32
Population, conservation genetics and management
of game species
Ettore Randi
Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica (INFS),
Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy
Conservationists would agree that the main scopes
of conservation genetics are the identification of evolutionary significant
units (through the use of “neutral” molecular markers), and the preservation
of heterozygosity and genetic diversity at functional gene system, which should
allow the processes of natural selection and adaptation to continue in the
future. Hunting activities have, directly or indirectly, strongly affected
the dynamics of game species during the last thousands of years. Probably
the first anthropogenic extinctions were the results of hunting (the prehistoric
overkill of large mammals at the end of the Pleistocene, and the many mass
extinctions in oceanic islands). Direct persecution of “predators” lead to
widespread eradication and fragmentation of many carnivore populations for
centuries in the past in Europe. Hunting for food was a main threat to ungulate
populations in the European countries until the end of WW II, and currently
it is an increasing threat to wildlife in Tropical countries (bushmeat and
wildlife trade). Sport hunting is still affecting the population and, probably,
the evolutionary dynamics of important groups of terrestrial vertebrates
(carnivores, ungulates, galliforms, waterfowl and migratory birds). Disturbance
to wild-living hunting species is partially due to direct hunting activities
(the consequences of over-hunting or selective hunting), but it is mainly
due to bad management practices (restocking of natural populations using
captive-propagated animals, translocations of animals outside their natural
biogeographic areas). The main genetic consequences of hunting practices are:
the destabilization of demographic structure (with alteration of mating patterns
and effective population size), increasing population fragmentation (with
alteration of the patterns of gene flow), inflation of demographic fluctuations
(with alteration of the rate of genetic drift), translocations (with hybridization
and admixture of populations from distinct biogeographic units), restocking
with captive animals (with alteration of population genetic and epidemiologic
equilibria). Thus, disturbance due to hunting activities can make even more
difficult the identification and preservation of evolutionary significant
units and population heterozygosity in game species. However, hunting activities
generate important flows of human and financial resources dedicated to wildlife
management. Conservationists should, therefore, consider game species as
flagship species, and interact with hunters and hunting managers to improve
the management of hunting species and areas.
A33
To be announced
Gordon Luikart
University of Grenoble, France
A34
Trends in conservation genetics: changes and advances
in molecular marker applications.
Phillip A. Morin
Molecular Ecology Laboratory, Southwest Fisheries
Science Center, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Conservation genetics is a field that has grown
out of the development of new molecular methods and genetic markers, and their
application to studies from the individual to the species level. The choice
of markers to address questions at each level is limited, but our genetic
toolbox is expanding with new molecular and analytical methods. As we have applied existing tools, such as mitochondrial
DNA sequencing and microsatellite genotyping, we have learned of their inherent
limitations, and overcome some initial hurdles. As we enter the ‘genomic age’
of biology, there are new methods and genetic markers that can be applied
to existing questions. One new and very promising tool is the single nucleotide
polymorphism (SNP), the most abundant polymorphic genetic marker in most genomes.
SNPs hold the potential to significantly expand our ability to survey neutral
variation as well as genes under selection in natural populations. The choice
of genetic markers to apply to specific questions is still complex, however,
and improvement in methods and applications with both existing and new markers
will be needed to further expand our ability to effectively apply genetics
for conservation.
A35
Male and female dispersal behaviour, and the population
genetics of marine
mammal species.
A Rus Hoelzel, A Natoli, A Fabiani
University of Durham, UK
Marine mammals have the capacity to travel great
distances in the marine environment (as shown from satellite tracking and
tag recovery data), which suggests the potential for panmixia over large geographic
ranges. The fact that we often see just the opposite - fine-scale population
structure, indicates that there are other factors determining dispersal behaviour.
As for mammal species in general, there could also be differential strategies
for males and females (where males are typically the greater dispersers),
though these have been difficult to demonstrate. In this talk I will review
studies conducted in my lab that provide some insight into this question,
and address some of the possible factors important in the evolution of population
structure in these species. The focus
will be on three species, the killer whale (Orcinus orca), the bottlenose
dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and the southern elephant seal (Mirounga
leonina). Killer whales show unusual fidelity to matrifocal social groups
over the lifetime of the individual, and the population structure reflects
this. Both killer whales and bottlenose dolphins show evidence for philopatry
for both males and females, unlike several other well-studies cetacean species.
In contrast, male and female southern elephant seals show distinct strategies.
Molecular data (primarily mtDNA and microsatellite DNA) for all three species
will be presented and compared to show how different strategies have led
to different population structure and patterns of evolution, and this will
be discussed in the context of biodiversity conservation.
A36
The use of network tree approaches for phylogeography
and conservation
Walter Salzburger, A Meyer
University of Konstanz, Germany
Network tree approaches based on DNA sequence data
can contribute to resolving population-genetic questions. For phylogeographic
and conservation biological inference mitochondrial DNA sequences are commonly
used because of their faster rate of molecular evolution, the experimental
ease due to universal primers, the lack of recombination, and the maternal
inheritance of mitochondrial DNA. However, there are several concerns about
the application of haplotype network trees based on mitochondrial DNA markers,
such as the occurrence of homoplasious mutations in larger data sets, including
distantly related taxa. Here, we present a network tree-building approach
combining the maximum parsimony and the maximum likelihood method. We also
outline guidelines for the depiction of network trees including the evaluation
of homoplasy. Two data sets based on the mitochondrial control region with
conservation biology relevance are presented as examples, a recently published
survey of the cichlid species flock of Lake Victoria, East Africa,1
and a phylogeographic analysis of the endangered cyprinid species Leuciscus
souffia from the Alps and surrounding regions2.
1Verheyen E, Salzburger W, Snoeks J & A Meyer,
Science 300: 325-329
2Salzburger W, Brandstätter A, Gilles A, Parson W,
Sturmbauer C & A Meyer, Molecular Ecology (in press)
A37
Temporal population
genetics in a red fox population following a rabies epidemic
Peter Wandeler(1,2), U Breitenmoser(3), Mike W Bruford(2),
SM Funk(1)
1 Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London,
UK
2 Cardiff School of Biosciences, BEPG, University
of Cardiff, UK
3 Swiss Rabies Centre, Institute of Veterinary Virology,
University of Bern, Switzerland
There are few long-time studies on the dynamics
of natural populations and even more rare are studies describing the genetic
and demographic structure of populations over a period of several generations.
The aim of this study is to describe the genetic variation within a local
red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population following the rabies epidemics in
Switzerland from 1967-96 and to identify processes of population genetic dynamics
and epidemics. A total of sixteen polymorphic dog and red fox specific microsatellite
loci were successfully amplified in 184 historic teeth and tissue samples,
which were continuously sampled in an area of 410km2 from 1969
onwards, representing twelve to fifteen fox generations. To account for erroneous
results by microsatellite amplification from highly diluted DNA, the nuclear
DNA concentration for all historic samples was initial estimated using a
quantitative PCR approach. Based on these findings potential homozygote genotypes
were repeatedly re-amplified. The genetic data were complemented by individual
age and long-term demographic data, which were based on local roadkill statistics.
Preliminary analyses indicate no apparent genetic bottleneck, although the
red fox density declined more than 85% following the first wave of the rabies
epidemic, but a possible change of fox migration patterns. The general importance
of these findings within a broader conservation context will be discussed.
A38
Non-invasive determination of genetic diversity
and paternity analysis of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) using
genomic DNA micrisatellite markers
Deusdedith RS Ishengoma(1), BM Mutayoba(2), CAH
Foley (3), A Shadlock(4), SK Wasser(4).
1 National Institute for Medical Research, Tanga,
Tanzania
2 Department of Veterinary Physiology, Biochemistry,
Pharmacology and Toxicoloy. Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3017,
Morogoro, Tanzania.
3 Tarangire Elephant Project, P.O Box 2703, Arusha, Tanzania.
4 Centre for Conservation Biology, Department of
Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
We used faecal-derived nuclear DNA to examine the
genetic diversity and paternity of African elephants from a severely poached
elephant population in Tarangire National Park (TNP), in Tanzania. We assessed
how poaching affects male variance in reproductive success. The results obtained using eight polymorphic
microsallite markers showed that the amplification and genotyping success
per locus ranged from 81.4 to 91.9% (n=86). All microsatellite markers were polymorphic with
a total of 60 alleles and the mean number of alleles per locus was 7.50. The
number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 11 while the mean polymorphic
information content (PIC) was 66%. The expected heterozygosity per locus ranged
from 53.8 to 82.0% with a mean of 70.6% for all loci. Test for Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium (HWE) was not significant at all loci. The genotype data enabled
assignment of 38% and 83% of offspring (n=29) at 80% confidence level to their
potential fathers with simulations assuming that 30% (12/40) and 100% (12/12)
of the breeding males were sampled. Further assessment of mating success
among sampled bulls revealed that 7.5% of all potential breeding bulls were
responsible for fathering 31.0% and 52% of all 29 offspring, assuming 30%
and 100% sampling of breeding bulls respectively. We conclude that elephants
in TNP have high genetic diversity despite high poaching pressure that occurred
between 1979 and late 1980s and males’ reproductive success in the sampled
elephant population seem to be biased towards dominant bulls.
A39
From isolation to connectivity - conservation genetics
of capercaillie
Gernot Segelbacher
Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Vogelwarte
Radolfzell, Germany
Capercaillie is closely associated with older stages
of coniferous forests and is considered an important umbrella species for
boreal and montane forest biodiversity conservation. I will outline the use of microsatellite markers
to study consequences of habitat fragmentation on the genetic structure of
capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and demonstrate a non-invasive genetic
approach using moulted feathers. I document the genetic differentiation of
capercaillie populations at different fragmentation stages along a gradient
of spatial structuring from high connectivity (continuous range in the boreal
forest) to metapopulation systems (Alps) and recent (central Europe) and historic
(Pyrenees) isolation. Analysing 460 individuals from 14 sample sites at 10
polymorphic microsatellite loci assessed genetic structure and variation of
capercaillie populations across the European range. Results agree with the
concept of a gradual increase of genetic differentiation from connectivity
to isolation, and from recent to historic isolation. Anthropogenic habitat
fragmentation may have significant population genetic and thus, evolutionary
consequences.
A40
Two hundred years in the history of Scandinavian
wolves: decline and recovery
Carles Vilŕ, Ř Flagstad, A-K Sundqvist, J Seddon,
H Ellegren
Uppsala University, Sweden
The Scandinavian wolf (Canis lupus) population
suffered a dramatic decline during the XIXth century and was considered functionally
extinct during the decade of 1960. However, a new breeding pack was established
in 1983 in southern Sweden, more than 900 km away from the limit of the distribution
of wolves in Finland and Russia. Since 1983 the wolf population has been
increasing and now numbers more than 100 individuals. A harsh debate arose
about the origin of the founders of this population. Using mitochondrial,
autosomal and Y chromosome markers we have been able to reconstruct the history
of the population and we concluded that it was founded by just two individuals
immigrating from the neighbouring wolf population in Finland and Russia.
The analyses also showed that one additional male arrived in the early 1990s
and allowed a marked population growth. However, although these results imply
some degree of communication between the different wolf populations, the study
of museum specimens from the XIX and XXth century imply that Scandinavian
wolves may have traditionally been isolated and that immigration has always
been an exceptional event. The low genetic diversity in the extant Scandinavian
wolf population and the elevated risk for inbreeding depression –as seen in
captive Swedish wolves- implies that the maintenance of occasional gene flow
may be important for the long-term survival of the population.
A41
Genetic diversity within and among Turkish sheep
breeds, their domestication histories and conservation
Evren Koban(1), E Özkan(2), V Altunok(3), M Nizamlıoğlu(3),
İ Soysal(2), Mike W Bruford(4), İ Togan(1)
1 Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
2 Faculty of Agriculture, Trakya University, Tekirdag,
Turkey
3 Dept Vet Internal Med, Fac Vet Med, Selcuk Univ,
42031 Konya, Turkey
4 Cardiff University, UK
Domestication of sheep appears to have taken place
in the Near East approximately 9000 BP. Recent molecular genetic data have
shown that modern domestic sheep (Ovis aries L.) has descended from
the Asiatic mouflon (Ovis gmelini) which is found in Turkey and Iran.
Then domestic sheep spread throughout the world along with humans and agricultural
practices. Currently there are over one billion sheep and more than 1400 recognised
breeds adapted to different geographic regions and different environmental
conditions. However, in the last few decades there is an important reduction
in the number of breeds. For example, the 22.5% of the European breeds has
become extinct mainly in the process of selection in economically important
breeds. With every breed that becomes extinct, some genetic diversity is lost,
too. Moreover some important genetic characteristics, such as disease resistance,
may also be lost.
Molecular genetic analyses (eg. mtDNA, microsatelite
DNA studies) have enabled us to study the genetic resources, origins and evolution
of livestock species. The detailed genetic study of the breeds has a prime
importance to find out the conservation priority of the breed(s) and population(s).
The aims of this study were (i) to measure the genetic
diversity within and among Turkish sheep breeds using 10 polymorphic microsatellites
and to compare the results with that of other sheep breeds from Europe, Asia
and Africa; (ii) to identify their domestication ancestory by mtDNA control
region RFLP and sequencing analysis to address questions about the evolution
of domestic sheep breeds; (iii) to develop conservation strategies.
A42
Genetic diversity, reproduction and population viability
in Lusitanian sea stars.
Erika Baus, D Darrock, Mike W Bruford
Cardiff University, UK
Two species of sea stars, Asterina gibbosa
and Asterina phylactica, occur along the West coast of Europe, ranging
from Scotland to the Adriatic sea. Although congeners and morphologically
similar, these two species differ markedly in their life history strategies
and habitat specificity. The first aim of this project is to study the impact
of the distinct reproduction and dispersal modes of these two species on their
population structure across their geographical range. It is anticipated that
these data will help reveal the process which shapes genetic diversity within
and amongst populations of littoral invertebrates. The second aim of this
project is to assess the demographic and genetic consequences of a recent
human-mediated environmental disaster (the Sea Empress oil spill, 1996) that
led to the quasi-extinction of A. phylactica at this site. By examining
the changes in the genetic diversity that occurred in both species as a result
of this oil spill (using field data collected before, during and after the
disaster), we hope to improve our limited understanding of natural population
bottlenecks. Genetic variation will be measured at nuclear loci using microsatellite
markers, which are currently being isolated for each species, and will be
analysed using genealogical and Bayesian approaches. In conclusion, the features
of this project is that it will follow the genetic consequences of a population
bottleneck in real-time and that it will use for the first time microsatellite
markers to assess population structure and dynamics in sea stars. Direct
conservation benefits are also expected from this study.
A43
Two African origins and extremely weak population
structure in donkeys revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequencing
Albano Beja-Pereira(1,2), N Ferrand(1,3) O Ertugrul(4),
L Ouragh(5), Gordon Luikart(2)
1 University of Porto, Vairăo, Portugal
2 Jouseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France
3 Department of Zoology, University of Porto, Porto,
Portugal
4 Veterinary Faculty, Ankara University, Ankara,
Turkey
5 Département de Pathologie Médicale et Chirurgicale
des Equidés & Carnivores, Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II,
Rabat, Maroc
The domestic donkey is considered the most threatened
domestic species in Europe. Although, the origins of donkey domestication
are far from being clear, several archaeological data indicates the African
wild ass (Equus africanus) as the potential source. However, like the
domestic the wild relative are severely threatened. Here
we examine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequence variation of
232 domestic donkeys covering 52 countries across the old world continents. We found that all sequences cluster within two main groups,
indicating two different maternal origins. MtDNA sequences of 6 individuals
representative of the two subspecies of the wild African ass (E. a. somaliensis
and E. a. africanus) grouped with each one of the two domestic lineages. An absence of phylogeographic structure, but similar gene
diversity across continents supports high movements over long distances. However,
North East Africa region retain more mutation-sites and subsequently more
unique mtDNA haplotypes when compared with the other hypothetical places of
domestication, and thus, let us to support Northeaster Africa as the unique
center of domestication of the donkey.
A44
Mixed stock analysis using Bayesian methods: a green
turtle feeding ground in the Gulf of Guinea.
Angela Formia, Mike W Bruford
Cardiff University, UK
Mixed stock analysis (MSA) has traditionally relied
on maximum likelihood estimation and bootstrapping, to calculate the highest
likelihood of observing the sampled composition of a mixed stock given set
parameters. However, such methods assume that all potentially
contributing populations are fully described, and are subject to error with
small sample sizes, rare haplotypes or uneven true stock proportions. A new approach to MSA has recently been developed based
on Bayesian statistics, which addresses the shortcomings of maximum likelihood
methods. It is based on the assumption that the proportion
parameters are random variables assigned prior and posterior probability distributions,
the data being used to update information about the parameters through Monte
Carlo Markov Chains. Thus, the prior probability is
accepted as uncertain or uninformative (flat prior), while successive iterations
converge on the desired posterior distribution. We
applied Bayesian MSA to an endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
population sampled in the Corisco Bay feeding ground (Equatorial Guinea and
Gabon). We sequenced 489 bases of the mitochondrial
DNA control region in 239 individuals, and found that ten rookeries in the
Atlantic and Indian oceans were potentially contributing to this mixed stock,
with Ascension Island as the major contributor. Bayesian
MSA adequately overcame potential weaknesses, including the presence of one
very common and several rare haplotypes, the lack of fully-described potential
contributors, overlapping haplotype frequencies among rookeries, and the
possibility of sampling error. Although confidence
intervals were wide, simulations showed the analysis to be sufficiently robust
to make conservation recommendations for this population.
A45
Population genetic structure of European grayling
(Thymallus thymallus L.) in Bavaria, southern Germany: implications
for conservation
Bernhard Gum(1), R Gross(2), O Rottmann(3), W Schroeder(1),
R Kuehn(1)
1 Technical University Munich-Weihenstephan, Freising,
Germany
2 Institute of Animal Science, Estonian Agricultural
University, EE-51014 Tartu, Estonia
3 Department for Animal Sciences, Technical University
Munich-Weihenstephan, D-85354 Freising, Germany
European grayling populations in Bavaria have shown
steady declines during the last 10-20 years. In order to provide guidelines
for conservation strategies and future management programs, we investigated
the genetic structure of 15 grayling populations originating from three major
Central European drainages (the Danube, the Elbe and the Rhine/Main) using
20 microsatellite loci. Genetic divergence between the three drainage systems
was substantial as illustrated by highly significant heterogeneity of genotype
frequencies, high number of drainage-specific private alleles, high between-drainage
FST values, high assignment success of individuals to their drainage of origin
and the high bootstrap support for the genetic distance based drainage-specific
population clusters. In agreement with earlier studies, microsatellites revealed
relatively low levels of intrapopulation genetic diversity (as measured
by allelic richness (AR) and heterozygosity (HE) estimates) in comparison
to the overall level of variation across populations. Maximum likelihood
methods using the coalescent approach revealed that the proportion of common
ancestors (as inferred from the F values of the 2MOD program) was generally
high in native populations and that the estimates of Ne (as estimated by
the parameter θ of the MIGRATE program) were correlated with the genetic
diversity parameters AR and HE in all drainages. The number of effective
immigrants per generation (Nem) was less than one for all pairwise
comparisons of populations within the drainages, indicating efficient interpopulation
reproductive isolation either as a result of limited dispersal behaviour
or physical barriers to the migration. Based on these findings we recommend
a drainage and sub-drainage specific conservation of grayling populations
in order to preserve their overall genetic diversity and integrity. For large-scale
stocking actions to supplement the declining or to restore the extinct populations, creation of separate broodstocks for major
conservation units (ESUs and MUs) is warranted.
A46
Natural hybridization and introgression of Triturus
cristatus genetic traits into Triturus carnifex in the northern
part of its range.
Peter Mikulíček(1,2), J Piálek(1)
1 Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Studenec,
Czech Republic
2 Department of Zoology, Biodiversity Research Group,
Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech Republic
Hybridization and introgression can contribute to
the extinction of rare populations and species that come into contact with
more abundant or introduced species. However, natural hybridization is also
recognized as playing an important role in the evolution of many animal and
plant taxa. The crested newt taxa (Triturus cristatus superspecies)
represent a group of closely related species with parapatric
distributions. They co-occur and likely interbreed wherever their distribution
ranges meet. It has been established that interspecific hybridization close
to or in the contact zones leads to introgression of mitochondrial and nuclear
genes among species. Recently, occurrence of the Italian crested newt (T.
carnifex) was demonstrated in the Czech Republic using allozyme and morphological
data. This species is distributed from the Apennine Peninsula and the Adriatic
part of the Balkans to the central Europe and populations from the southern
Czech Republic represent its most northerly distribution. We have analyzed
these populations using species-specific RAPD markers in order to find out
the rate of hybridization and introgression between T. carnifex and
northerly and widely distributed T. cristatus. We have documented
introgression of T. cristatus genetic traits into T. carnifex
populations as a result of interspecific hybridization. Because populations
are fragmented, likely to habitat modifications, it was not possible to delimit
any hybrid zones between these species.
A47
Conservation genetics of the red squirrel, Scirius
vulgaris, in a refugial population on Anglesey, North Wales.
Rob Ogden(1), R McEwing(1), C Shuttleworth(2)
(1) University of Wales, Bangor, UK
(2) Red Squirrel Project Manager, Mentor Mon, Bryn
Cefni Industrial Park, Llangefni, Isle of Anglesey, LL77 7XA, UK
The Eurasian red squirrel (Scirius vulgaris)
has become increasingly threatened in the United Kingdom as a result of habitat
degradation, non-indigenous grey squirrel, (S. americanus) introductions,
and more recently the parapox virus. Mainland populations of the red squirrel
have been lost throughout most of its range in England and Wales and within
Scotland, its last stronghold, grey squirrel numbers are increasing. Recently,
work has begun aimed at conserving the last ‘healthy’ population in Wales,
located on the island of Anglesey. This population is currently free of parapox
and numbers have steadily increased from around 50 to 85 during the last five
years in response to a contentious grey squirrel culling program. Despite
this increase, there is concern that a reduction in effective population size
following the protracted bottleneck of the Anglesey population, may threaten
the long-term viability and future recovery of this important remnant group.
To assess levels of genetic diversity we conducted a survey of mitochondrial
and nuclear variability within the Anglesey population. In
common with several other UK populations, the Anglesey population was found
to be monomorphic for a unique mtDNA control region haplotype (n=47). Results
for six highly variable microsatellite loci (n=47) revealed a pronounced lack
of allelic variability when compared with data for other UK populations. This
result suggests that augmentation of the Anglesey population may be appropriate.
Increasing genetic variation within this population could ensure its future
and make it a suitable stock for subsequent re-introductions in other areas
as local habitat is restored.
A48
Individual identification of brown bear (Ursus
arctos) from central Italy using non-invasive genetic sampling.
Massimo Pierpaoli(1), A Putrella(2), L Sammarone(2),
M Posillico(2,3), Ettore Randi(1)
1 Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica (INFS),
Ozzano Emilia, Bologna, Italy
2 Ufficio Amministrazione Foreste Demaniali di
Castel di Sangro, Castel di Sangro (AQ).
3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Behavioural
Ecology, Behaviour and Wildlife Management Section, University of Siena, Siena.
The European populations of brown bear (Ursus
arctos) are listed in the lower risk category in the IUCN red list of
endangered species, and under the Appendix II of CITES. The brown bear population
in central Italy, which is fully protected by national regulations, is mostly
located in the Abruzzo National Park and its surroundings. The size and current
demographic trend of this population are unknown. Data on genetic variability
and population structure are also missing. Within a conservation project of
the Apennine brown bear population, we developed non-invasive genetic methods
aimed to: (1) setting up a system of markers able to identify single genotypes,
2) discriminating the sex of the samples, 3) assessing the average level
of variability at a panel of nuclear loci. DNA was extracted from hairs and
faeces collected from June 2000 to November 2002 in various locations east
and north of the Abruzzo National Park. Barbed wire traps were used to collect
hairs, while faeces have been collected along a fixed trails system. A multiple
tube approach was applied to obtain reliable genotyping. Mitochondrial DNA
sequencing was used for species discrimination on hair samples, nine microsatellite
loci were screened to identify individual genotypes and the sex-linked gene
amelogenin was used for molecular sexing.
A49
When, why and how to use the Structure software:
a simulation study
Sébastien Regnaut, G Evanno, J Goudet
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Inferring population genetic structure is usually
achieved using genetic distances or fixation indexes such as Fst. This approach
implies the a priori definition of a set of populations, i.e. on geographic
criteria. A more objective method to detect sub-structuring is the Bayesian
clustering approach implemented in the software Structure (Pritchard
et al., 2000). From a whole genetic data set Structure identifies sub-populations
and assigns individuals (probabilistically) to these populations. But the
ability of this program to detect different types of population structure
has not yet been thoroughly tested. In various simulated situations, we have
analysed the sensitivity of Structure to the type of genetic markers (AFLP
vs. microsatellite), the number of loci scored, the number of populations
sampled, and the number of individuals typed in each sample.
A50
Genetic structure of the European tree frog (Hyla
arborea) metapopulation in western Switzerland
S Dubey, Sylvain Ursenbacher, J Pellet, L Fumagalli
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Nowadays, the survival of threatened species as
the green tree frog (Hyla arborea) is strongly dependent on the genetic
variability within the populations, as well as gene flow between populations.
In Switzerland, the distribution of this species has strongly regressed during
the last century, although three sectors still have metapopulations in the
canton of Vaud: the lemanic Coast, the Grangettes, and the southern shore
of the Neuchâtel Lake, the latter being one of the largest of Switzerland.
In this study, 7 microsatellites loci were used to establish the levels of
structuring of the populations of the Coast and Southern shore, including
their consanguinity level, in order to suggest a plan of management. The results
of this work show that the populations have: 1) a relatively high allelic
richness, 2) a weak structuring (Fst by metapopulation = 0.04), 3) a Fis
similar with other species of batrachians. No isolation by distance is detected
on the intra-metapopulational level. These results show a strong mobility
of the green tree frog in highly variable environments such as reed bed,
wooded cords, and cultures. This encourages the digging of new ponds, which
will quickly be colonized by the tree frogs, with an object of increasing
metapopulation size on the Coast, as well as connecting the 2 studied metapopulations.
A51
Conservation genetic of the Viperine Snake (Natrix
maura, Colubridae) in its northeastern distribution area
M Nembrini, S Regnaut, Sylvain Ursenbacher, L Fumagalli
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Detailed attention for the conservation of endangered
species is granted to maintain genetic variation within populations, particularly
when they become isolated and reduced in size. The Viperine snake (Natrix
maura) is the most threatened reptile in Switzerland, where it is found
only in three residual populations. In this study, 6 microsatellite loci were
used to generate information on the degree and distribution of genetic variation,
and on the level of inbreeding within populations, in order to understand
how evolutionary processes operate in these populations and to aid the development
of conservation plans for this species. The results of this work show that
these populations are characterised by. I) a strong structuring and genetic
isolation (Fst = 0.13-0.35), ii) a poor allelic diversity, iii) a strong
excess of homozygotes (Fis = 0.2). This suggests that Swiss populations have
undergone changes in allelic frequencies, due to genetic drift and to absence
of genetic flow among the three populations. The combination of these factors
seems to reflect the residual and unstable state of Viperine snake populations
in Switzerland. These populations should be carefully monitored as much from
a demographic point of view (currently in progress) as from genetic one.
Translocations of individuals between these three remnant populations should
be considered, in order to restore levels of genetic variation higher than
those presently observed.
A52
Genetic discrimination between wild and farmed Atlantic
salmon (Salmo salar) in the world’s most productive Atlantic salmon
river system.
Juha-Pekka Vähä(1), J Erkinaro(2), Craig R Primmer(1)
1 University of Helsinki, Finland
2 Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute,
Oulu, Finland
The basis of genetic differentiation and thus local
adaptation of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations lies in its
well documented homing behaviour. Local adaptation of salmonid populations
can be observed in some ethological, physiological and morphological traits,
which are shown to be genetically controlled. Loss of local adaptation and
break-up of favourable epistatic interactions can result in outbreeding depression.
Furthermore, such a loss of genetic uniqueness can be regarded as a form of
extinction. In March 2003, a cage containing over 100000 adult salmon was
torn in a storm outside the mouth of one of the world’s largest Atlantic salmon
rivers, the river Teno. Teno runs between Norway and Finland to the Arctic
Ocean. Teno’s annual catch of wild salmon is around 150 tons of which about
a quarter is caught by recreational fishermen. In other similar escape events,
escapees have been reported to comprise up to 70% of mature adults in some
rivers. Although the breeding success of escapees and their genetic impact
on wild population have been subject to considerable speculation, this escape
event has the potential to have a significant negative effect on the Teno
salmon population. Application of individual assignment tests in the field
of fisheries has been particularly widespread due to the importance of accurate
population assignment for a variety of purposes including distinction between
individuals of native and stocked origin. We present preliminary results
on the use individual assignment tests to genetically discriminate between
farmed and wild Teno salmon using microsatellite data.
A53
Identifying native brown trout (Salmo trutta
L.) by means of RAPD and mitochondrial DNA
Jeroen Van Houdt (1), J Pinceel (1), M-C Flamand
(2), M Briquet (2), E Dupont (3), FAM Volckaert (1), PV Baret (2)
1 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Laboratory of
Aquatic Ecology, Ch. de Bériotstraat 32, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
2 Université Catholique de Louvain, Biodiversity
Research Centre , Croix-du-Sud 2 box 14, B-1348, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium
3 Ministčre de la Région Wallonne, Centre de Recherch
de la Nature, des Fôrets et du Bois, B- Marloie, Belgium
The effects of migration barriers and stocking of
hatchery brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) into wild populations
was studied in the catchments of the Belgian rivers Scheldt and Meuse. Samples
from 12 wild populations (n = 309) and 7 hatchery stocks (n = 200) were analysed
at the mitochondrial control region with SSCP and at 27 RAPD loci. The hatchery
samples were nearly undifferentiated and could be considered as a homogeneous
group, reflecting the extensive stock transfer between hatcheries. Assignment
analysis revealed a substantial degree of introgression of hatchery material
into the downstream populations. Nevertheless, the impact was less than expected
considering the intensive stocking of the last decades. In the upstream parts
of the rivers migration barriers often isolated the present natural populations.
Although these populations became often genetically impoverished because of
their isolated situation, almost all appeared to be unaffected by hatchery
material. All the indigenous populations likely represent
a fraction of the ancestral gene pool and might be valuable to restore the
pre-stocking conditions. An inventory of migration barriers is currently made
in order to remove them and guarantee upstream and downstream movement of
freshwater species. Although these measures are taken in order to enhance
the freshwater fauna, they might be destructive for the vulnerable indigenous
brow trout gene pools. We suggest to restock the downstream parts of rivers
with material from the indigenous upstream populations before the removal
of barriers, in order to restore a diverse and natural gene pool.
A54
Genetic diversity and population structure of Arctic
char, Salvelinus alpinus, from Trentino (Italy).
Andrea Gandolfi (1), J Battilana (1), F Ciutti (1),
P Ajmone-Marsan (2), MS Grando (1)
1 Research Centre, Ist. Agrario di S.Michele a/Adige, Via E. Mach 1, 38010
S.Michele a/Adige (TN), Italy
2 Institute of Zootechnics, Catholic University
of S. Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29100 Piacenza, Italy
The Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus, has
a wide geographic distribution in Europe, reaching the South of the European
Alps, in Italy. Populations are characterised by high levels of morphological
and life history traits variation, and fine-scale genetic population structure
has been recently demonstrated by the use of molecular markers (SSRs). In
Italy, the Arctic char is at present considered to be naturally occurring
only in Trentino, where populations with different levels of natural and historical
isolation and anthropic impact are thought to be originated as a relict from
the last glaciation. These Italian populations, that represent the southern
limit of the species areal, and considered to be endangered by the IUCN Red
List, have never been included in previous genetic studies. We present preliminary
data obtained using SSR and AFLP markers to characterise individuals sampled
from nine lakes in Trentino, compared with data on populations from North
of Europe and Northern Alps. These data will contribute 1) to assess the genetic variability and the
population structure of Arctic char in Italy; 2) to evaluate the populations
nativeness and uniqueness and to test and validate the hypothesis of their
phylogeographic origin; 3) to define and suggest priorities and strategies
for management and conservation, based on the evaluation of genetic similarity
relationships among populations with a scattered distribution.
(Financial support for this study (POPSAL Project)
was provided by the Fund for Research of the Autonomous Province of Trento
– Italy.)
ADDRESSES
DIANA ALVAREZ
Departamento de Biologia
Facultad de Ciencias
Pontificia Universidad
Javeriana
Cra 7A
No 43-82
Bogotá DC
COLOMBIA
dalvarez@javeriana.edu.co
ERIC ANDERSON
Department
of Integrative Biology
University
of California
Berkeley
CA 94720-3140
USA
dr_eriq@uclink.berkeley.edu
Tel: (510)
643 6299 (work) / (510) 524 1831 (home)
Fax: (510) 643-6264
ERIKA BAUS
Cardiff University
Main Building,
Park Place
PO Box 915
Cardiff CF10
3TL
UNITED KINGDOM
BausE@cf.ac.uk
Fax: +44
(0) 29 2087 4305
MARK BEAUMONT
School of
Animal and Microbial Sciences
University
of Reading, Whiteknights
PO Box 228
Reading RG6
6AJ
UNITED KINGDOM
m.a.beaumont@reading.ac.uk
Tel: 0118 987 5123 X 7707
Fax: 0118 931 0180
PETER BEERLI
Genome Sciences
University
of Washington
Box 357730
Seattle 98195-7730
Washington
USA
beerli@gs.washington.edu
Tel: 206 54 38
751
Fax: 206 54 30 754
CSIT Dirac Science
Library
Florida State
University
Tallahassee,
FL 32306-4120,
Florida
USA.
beerli@csit.fsu.edu
Tel: 850-645-1324,
Fax: 850-644-0098
ALBANO BEJA PEREIRA
Génomique des
Populations et Biodiversité
UMR CNRS 5553
Université Joseph
Fourier
BP 53
38041 GRENOBLE Cedex 9
FRANCE
Albano.Beja-Pereira@ujf-grenoble.fr
Fax: +351
252 661780
LOUIS BERNATCHEZ
Département de
Biologie
Université Laval
Pavillon Vachon
Sainte-Foy,
Québec G1K 7P4
CANADA
Louis.Bernatchez@bio.ulaval.ca
Tel: 1 418 656-3402
Fax: 1 418 656-2043
PIERRE BERTHIER
Computational
and Molecular Population Genetics
Zoologisches
Institut
Universitaet
Bern
Baltzerstrasse
6
CH-3012 Bern
SWITZERLAND
pierre.berthier@zoo.unibe.ch
Tel: +41 31 631
30 28
Fax: +41 31 631
48 88
http://cmpg.unibe.ch/people/berthier.htm
GIORGIO BERTORELLE
Department
of Biology
University
of Ferrara
via Borsari 46
I-44100 Ferrara
ITALY
ggb@unife.it
Tel: +39 0532
291743
Fax: +39 0532
249761
MIKE BRUFORD
Cardiff School
of Biosciences
Main Building
Museum Avenue
PO Box 915
Cardiff CF10
3TL
UNITED KINGDOM
BrufordMW@Cardiff.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 29 20
874312
Fax: +44 (0) 29 20
874305
GISELLA
CACCONE
YIBS- Molecular
Systematics and Conservation Genetics Lab.
Environmental
Science Center (ESC) 140
Yale University
21 Sachem
St.
PO Box 208105
New Haven
06520-8105
Connecticut
USA
adalgisa.caccone@yale.edu
Tel: (203) 432 5259
DAVID CARAMELLI
BIOSFERA –
Conservation Biology Research and Education
Via del Proconsolo 12
I-50122 Firenze
ITALY
Department
of Animal Biology and Genetics
University of Florence
Via del Proconsolo, 12
I-50122 Firenze
david.caramelli@unifi.it
Tel: + 39
055 214049
Fax. +39 055
283358
CLAUDIO
CIOFI
Yale University
Department
of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
165 Prospect
Street
New Haven
CT 06511
USA
claudio.ciofi@yale.edu
Tel: +1 203 432
3886
Fax: +1 203 432
6066
DAVE COLTMAN
Department
of Animal and Plant Sciences
University
of Sheffield
Sheffield
S10 2TN
UNITED KINGDOM
d.coltman@sheffield.ac.uk
Fax: 0114 222
0117
BARBARA CRESTANELLO
Centre for
Alpine Ecology
I-38040 Viote del Monte
Bondone (TN)
ITALY
crestanello@cealp.it
Tel: +39 0461
939532
Fax: +39 0461
948102
Department
of Biology
University of Ferrara
via Borsari 46
I-44100 Ferrara
ITALY
Tel: +39 055
291745
Fax: +39 0532
249761
FRANCESCA DAVOLI
Centre for
Alpine Ecology
I-38040 Viote del Monte
Bondone (TN)
ITALY
gialloltremare@tiscalinet.it
Tel: +39 0461 939532
Fax: +39 0461
948102
LAURENT
EXCOFFIER
Zoological
Institute
University
of Bern
6 Baltzerstraße
CH-3012 Bern
SWITZERLAND
laurent.excoffier@zoo.unibe.ch
Tel: +41 31 631 30 31
Fax: +41 31 631 48 88
ROBERT
G FLEISCHER
Department
of Systematics Biology
National Museum
of Natural History
Smithsonian
Institution
3001 Connecticut
Ave NW
Washington
DC 20008-0551
USA
fleischer.robert@nmnh.si.edu
Tel: 202 673
4842
Fax: 202 673
0040
ANGELA FORMIA
School of
Biosciences
Cardiff University
Cardiff CF10
3TL
UNITED KINGDOM
formiaa@cardiff.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)29 20875073
Fax: +44 (0)29 20874305
OSCAR E
GAGGIOTTI
Metapopulation
Research Group, Dept of Ecology and Systematics
University
of Helsinky
PO Box 65
(Viikinkaari 1)
FINLAND 00014
oscar.gaggiotti@helsinki.fi
Tel: +358 9 191 57752
Fax: +358 9 191 57694
PETER GALBUSERA
University
of Antwerp
Universiteitsplein
1
B-2610 Wilrijk
BELGIUM
peter.galbusera@ua.ac.be
Fax: +32 (0)3
820 22 62
ANDREA GANDOLFI
Istituto Agrario di San
Michele a/Adige
Via E. Mach, 1,
38010 San Michele a/Adige
(TN)
Italy
andrea.gandolfi@ismaa.it
Tel:+39 0461 650956
JOHN CARLOS
GARZA
Southwest
Fisheries Science Center
University
of California
110 Shaffer
Road
Santa Cruz CA 95060
USA
carlosjg@CATS.UCSC.EDU
Tel. 831 420
3903
Fax. 831 420
3977
STELLA GRANDO
Istituto Agrario di San
Michele a/Adige
Via E. Mach, 1,
38010 San Michele a/Adige
(TN)
Italy
stella.grando@ismaa.it
Tel:+39 0461
615197
BERNHARD GUM
Dipl.-Biologe
TU München, Forstwissenschaftliche
Fakultät
Fachgebiet für
Wildbiologie und Wildtiermanagement
Am Hochanger
13
D-85354 Freising
GERMANY
gum@wzw.tum.de
Tel.: ++49(0)8161/714606
Fax: ++49(0)8161/714615
ELIZABETH A HADLY
Department of Biological Sciences
371 Serra Mall
Stanford University
Stanford CA 94305-5020
USA
hadly@stanford.edu
Tel: 650
725 2655 / 498 4995
Fax: 650
723 0589
http://www.stanford.edu/group/hadlylab
HEIDI C HAUFFE
Centre for
Alpine Ecology
I-38040 Viote del Monte
Bondone (TN)
Italy
hauffe@cealp.it
Tel: +39 0342 770113 /
0461 939555
Fax: +39 0461 948102
RUS HOELZEL
University
of Durham
Biological
Sciences
South Road,
Durham DH1
3LE
UNITED KINGDOM
a.r.hoelzel@dur.ac.uk
Fax: 44 191
334 1201
YOUSSEF
IDAGHDOUR
Senior Research
Assistant
Genetics Laboratory
International
Foundation for Conservation and Development of Wildlife
PO Box. 116
Inezgane 80350
MOROCCO
tinoudyali@hotmail.com
Tel: 00 212
48 24 07 68
Fax.: 00 212
48 24 07 66
DEUSIDEDITH
RWEGASIRA SIMON ISHENGOMA
National
Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)
PO Box 950
Tanga
TANZANIA
deusishe@yahoo.com
deusishe@hotmail.com
Fax.: 255
27 264 3869
Fax: (812) 323 60 51
UTE KRYGER
Department
of Zoology & Entomology
University
of Pretoria
Pretoria 0002
SOUTH AFRICA
Ukryger@zoology.up.ac.za
Fax: +27
12 362 52 42
EVREN KOBAN
Middle East
Technical University
Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi
Biyoloji Bölümü, Lab 29
06531 Ankara
TURKEY
evrenkoban@yahoo.com
Fax: +90 312
2101289
BERNHARD KRAUS
Institute for
Zoology
Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg
Kröllwitzer Str.
44
D-06099 Halle
(Saale)
GERMANY
kraus@zoologie.uni-halle.de
Fax: +49 345
5527264
Tel: +49 345
5526235
CARLO LARGIADER
CMPG (Computational
and Molecular Population Genetics lab)
Abteilung Populationsgenetik
Zoologisches
Institut - Universitaet Bern
Baltzerstrasse
6
CH-3012 Bern
SWITZERLAND
largiader@zoo.unibe.ch
Tel: +41 31
631 45 13/11
Fax: +41 31
631 31 88
http://cmpg.unibe.ch/people/largiader.htm
GORDON
LUIKART
Laboratoire
de Biologie des Populations d'Altitude (LBPA)
Biologie D
Salle 311
BP 53 - 38041
Grenoble cedex
9
FRANCE
Gordon.Luikart@ujf-grenoble.fr
Tel: +33 4 76 63 56 07 / 51 46 00
Fax: +33 4 76 51 42 79
MICHEL
C MILINKOVITCH
Unit of Evolutionary
Genetics
Inst. Of Molecular
Biology & Medicine
Free University
of Brussels (ULB)
cp 300, Rue
Jeener & Brachet, 12
B-6041 Gosselies
BELGIUM
mcmilink@ulb.ac.be
Tel: +32 2 650 9956 / 9967 / 9968
Fax: +32 2 650 9950
PETER MIKULÍČEK
Department
of Population Biology
Institute
of Vertebrate Biology
Academy of
Sciences of the Czech Republic
CZ-675 02
Studenec 122
CZECH REPUBLIC
Department
of Zoology
Biodiversity
Research Group
Charles University
Viničná 7, CZ-128
44 Prague 2
CZECH REPUBLIC
mikulice@natur.cuni.cz; petermikulicek@pobox.sk
PHILLIP
A MORIN
Protected
Resources Division
Southwest
Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)
National Marine
Fisheries Service
8604 La Jolla
Shores Dr
La Jolla CA
92037
USA
Phillip.Morin@noaa.gov
Tel: 858 546 7165
Fax: 858 546 7003
ROBIN FA MORITZ
Institute
for Zoology
Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg
Kröllwitzer
Str. 44
D-06099 Halle
(Saale)
GERMANY
r.moritz@zoologie.uni-halle.de
Fax: +49-345-5527264
ROB OGDEN
Wildlife DNA
Services Limited
Brambell Building
Deiniol Road
University
of Wales
Bangor, LL57
2UW
UNITED KINGDOM
rob-ogden@wdnas.com
Fax: +44 1248
371644
ELENA PECCHIOLI
Centre for
Alpine Ecology
I-38040 Viote del Monte
Bondone (TN)
Italy
pecchioli@cealp.it
Tel: +39 0461
939532
Fax: +39 0461
948102
Department
of Biology
University
of Ferrara
via Borsari 46
I-44100 Ferrara
ITALY
Tel: +39 0532
291745
Fax: +39 0532
249761
MASSIMO PIERPAOLI
Istituto Nazionale per
la Fauna Selvatica
Via Ca' Fornacetta 9
I-40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO)
ITALY
pierpaoli@mclink.it
Tel: +39 051
6512253 / 257
DAVID POSADA
Departemento
de Bioquimica, Genetica e Inmunologia
Faculdad de
Ciencas
Universidad
de Vigo
Vigo 36200
SPAIN
dposada@evolgenics.com
Tel: +34 625 587976
CRAIG PRIMMER
Department
of Ecology and Systematics
Division of
Population Biology
P.O. Box 65
(Biocentre 3, Viikinkaari 1)
FIN-00014
University of Helsinki
FINLAND
craig.primmer@helsinki.fi
Tel:
358 9 191 57685
Fax:
358 9 191 57847
ETTORE
RANDI
Istituto Nazionale
per la Fauna Selvatica
Via cá Fornacetta
9
40064 Ozzano
dell' Emilia (Bologna)
ITALY
met0217@iperbole.bologna.it
Tel: 051 65
12 111
Fax: 051 79
66 28
MANUEL RUEDI
Natural History Museum of Geneva
Route de Malagnou 1
CH-1208 Genčve
SWITZERLAND
manuel.ruedi@mhn.ville-ge.ch
Fax: +41
22 418 63.01
SÉBASTIEN
REGNAUT
LBC - Inst.
of Ecology
University
of Lausanne
Bat Biol
CH-1015 Dorigny
SWITZERLAND
sebastien.regnaut@ie-zea.unil.ch
KATHRYN
M RODRÍGUEZ -CLARK
Laboratorio de Ecología
y Genética de Poblaciones
Centro de Ecología
Instituto Venezolano de
Investigaciones Científicas
Apartado 21827
Caracas 1020-A
VENEZUELA
kate@sigmaxi.org
Tel: +58 212 504 1889
Fax: +58 212 504 1617
MANUEL RUIZ-GARCIA
Departamento de Biologia
Facultad de Ciencias
Pontificia Universidad
Javeriana
Cra 7A No 43-82
Bogotá DC
COLOMBIA
mruiz@javeriana.edu.co
WALTER SALZBURGER
Institute
of Evolutionary Biology
Department
of Biology
PO Box M617
University Konstanz
D-78457 Konstanz
GERMANY
Walter.Salzburger@uni-konstanz.de
http://www.evolutionsbiologie.uni-konstanz.de/labmembers/walter/ (new!)
Tel: +49 (0)
7531 88 4304
Cell: +49
151 127 22 378
Fax: +49 (0)
7531 88 3018
VALERIO
SBORDONI
Department
of Biology
Tor Vergata
University
00133 Roma
ITALY
valerio.sbordoni@uniroma2.it
Tel: 06 7259 59 51/8; 06 20 42 76 53
Fax: 06 20 26 189; 06 72 59 59 65
GERNOT SEGELBACHER
Max Planck
Research Centre for Ornithology
Vogelwarte Radolfzell
Schlossallee
2
D-78315 Radolfzell
GERMANY
segelbac@vowa.ornithol.mpg.de
Tel: +49 77 32
15 01 62
Fax: +49 77 32
15 01 69
http://vowa.ornithol.mpg.de/
DAVID
TALLMON
LECA
Université
Joseph Fourier
F-38041
BP53 Cedex 9, Grenoble
FRANCE
dtallmon42@yahoo.com
Fax: +33
04 76 51 42 79
SYLVAIN URSENBACHER
Laboratoire de
Biologie de la Conservation (LBC)
Institut d'Ecologie
Bât. de Biologie
CH-1015 Lausanne
SWITZERLAND
Sylvain.Ursenbacher@ie-zea.unil.ch
http://www.unil.ch/lbc
Tel: +41 (0)
21 692 41 63
Fax: +41 (0)
21 692 41 65
JUHA-PEKKA
VÄHÄ
University
of Helsinki
Department
of Ecology and Systematics
P.O. Box 65
00014 University
of Helsinki
FINLAND
juha-pekka.vaha@helsinki.fi
Fax: +358
9 191 57694
JEROEN
VAN HOUDT
Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven
Ch de Bériotstraat
32,
B-3000 Leuven
Belgium
Jeroen.VanHoudt@bio.kuleuven.ac.be
Tel: +32(0)16 32 45 75
ADRIAN
MUNGUIA VEGA
Northwest
Biological Research Center, CIBNOR
Mar Bermejo
No 195
Colonia Playa Palo de Santa
Rita
CP 23090
La Paz, Baja California
Sur
MEXICO
airdrian@cibnor.mx , airdrian@hotmail.com
Tel: +(52) 612-12-30450
Fax.: + (52)
612-12-53625
CRISTIANO VERNESI
Department
of Biology
University
of Ferrara
via Borsari 46
I-44100 Ferrara
ITALY
vrc@unife.it
Tel: +39 0532 291745
Fax: +39 0532
249761
CARLES VILŔ
Department
of Evolutionary Biology
Uppsala University
Norbyvägen
18D
S-752 36 Uppsala
SWEDEN
carles.vila@ebc.uu.se
Tel: +46 18
4716464
Fax: +46 18
4716310
PETER WANDELER
Institute
of Zoology
Zoological
Society of London
Regent's Park,
London NW1 4RY
UNITED KINGDOM
peter.wandeler@ioz.ac.uk
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/index.htm
Tel: +44 (207)
449 6621
COMMITTEES
Scientific
Committee
Giorgio Bertorelle, University
of Ferrara, Italy
Mike Bruford,
University of Cardiff, UK
Claudio Chemini, CEA,
Viote del Monte Bondone, Trento, Italy
Heidi Hauffe, CEA, Viote
del Monte Bondone, Trento, Italy
Cristiano Vernesi, University
of Ferrara, Italy
Organizing Committee
President: Gianni Nicolini,
Director of the Centre for Alpine Ecology, Viote del Monte Bondone, Trento,
Italy
Annalisa Losa, CEA, Viote
del Monte Bondone, Trento, Italy
Faunagen
Project Group:
Giorgio Bertorelle, University of Ferrara, Italy
David Caramelli, Association Biosfera, Firenze,
Italy
Barbara Crestanello, CEA, Viote del Monte Bondone,
Trento, Italy
Francesca Davoli, CEA, Viote del Monte Bondone,
Trento, Italy
Heidi Hauffe, CEA, Viote del Monte Bondone, Trento,
Italy
Elena Pecchioli, CEA, Viote del Monte Bondone,
Trento, Italy
Cristiano Vernesi, University of Ferrara, Italy