TY - JOUR

T1 - Range-wide patterns of population differentiation of Eurasian Black Terns (Chlidonias niger niger) related to use of discrete post-nuptial staging sites

AU - Szczys, Patricia

AU - Lamothe, Karl A.

AU - Druzyaka, Alexey

AU - Poot, Martin J.M.

AU - Siokhin, Valeri

AU - van der Winden, Jan

PY - 2017/4/1

Y1 - 2017/4/1

N2 - The Eurasian Black Tern, Chlidonias niger niger, nests in marshes continuously distributed across Eurasia, but migration routes, staging sites, and non-breeding distributions are not well understood. In western Europe some populations have declined substantially over several decades (>90%), thus a more complete understanding of breeding site connectivity and migratory routes is needed. We collected tissue samples of terns in breeding colonies in the Netherlands, Latvia, southern Ukraine, eastern Siberian Russia, and from individuals at one important post-nuptial staging site in The Netherlands. Microsatellite data suggest significant differentiation among all breeding sites and the pattern is supported by differences among sites in most morphological measures. Conversely, mitochondrial DNA suggests similarity and population expansion especially from the region around Ukraine. We assigned 70% of the birds sampled on the staging site to the Netherlands/Latvia breeding population, but none to the southern Ukrainian or eastern Russian population. Our data indicated limited contact at post-nuptial staging sites contribute to genetic structure among breeding sites for this species. Our study demonstrates the utility of genetic data in migration studies to delineate migratory flyways and highlight the importance of specific staging sites to specific breeding subpopulations.

AB - The Eurasian Black Tern, Chlidonias niger niger, nests in marshes continuously distributed across Eurasia, but migration routes, staging sites, and non-breeding distributions are not well understood. In western Europe some populations have declined substantially over several decades (>90%), thus a more complete understanding of breeding site connectivity and migratory routes is needed. We collected tissue samples of terns in breeding colonies in the Netherlands, Latvia, southern Ukraine, eastern Siberian Russia, and from individuals at one important post-nuptial staging site in The Netherlands. Microsatellite data suggest significant differentiation among all breeding sites and the pattern is supported by differences among sites in most morphological measures. Conversely, mitochondrial DNA suggests similarity and population expansion especially from the region around Ukraine. We assigned 70% of the birds sampled on the staging site to the Netherlands/Latvia breeding population, but none to the southern Ukrainian or eastern Russian population. Our data indicated limited contact at post-nuptial staging sites contribute to genetic structure among breeding sites for this species. Our study demonstrates the utility of genetic data in migration studies to delineate migratory flyways and highlight the importance of specific staging sites to specific breeding subpopulations.

KW - Black Tern

KW - Chlidonias niger

KW - Eurasia

KW - Microsatellite

KW - Morphology

KW - mtDNA

KW - Population structure

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85015740286&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10336-016-1408-5

DO - 10.1007/s10336-016-1408-5

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85015740286

VL - 158

SP - 365

EP - 378

JO - Journal fur Ornithologie

JF - Journal fur Ornithologie

SN - 0021-8375

IS - 2

ER -