The island biogeography theory is one of the major theories in ecology, and its applicability to natural systems is well documented. The core model of the theory, the equilibrium model of island biogeography, predicts that species diversity on an island is positively related to the size of the island, but negatively related by the island's distance to the mainland. In recent years, ecologists have begun to apply this model when investigating genetic diversity, arguing that genetic and species diversity might be influenced by similar ecological processes. However, most studies have focused on oceanic islands, but knowledge on how the theory applies to islands located on the mainland (e.g., mountain islands, forest islands) is scarce. In this study, we examined how the size and degree of isolation of mountain islands would affect the genetic diversity of an alpine bird, the rock ptarmigan ( Lagopus muta ). Within our study area, we defined the largest contiguous mountain area as the mainland, while smaller mountains surrounding the mainland were defined as islands. We found that the observed heterozygosity ( H o ) was significantly higher, and the inbreeding coefficient ( F is ) significantly lower, on the mainland compared to islands. There was a positive significant relationship between the unbiased expected heterozygosity ( H n.b. ) and island size (log km 2 ), but a negative significant relationship between H o and the cost distance to the mainland. Our results are consistent with the equilibrium model of island biogeography and show that the model is well suited for investigating genetic diversity among islands, but also on islands located on the mainland.

Amphibians are particularly sensitive to landscape fragmentation. Potential barriers between breeding sites can negatively influence the dispersal of individuals and increase genetic structure between populations. In this study, we genotyped 10 microsatellites for 334 marbled newts (Triturus marmoratus) at 11 different locations in Western France. Samples were collected in different regions with contrasting agricultural landscapes (low and high proportion of arable land in the north and south, respectively). We found a strong genetic structure between the northern and southern sampling sites. Isolation by distance was recorded after 62 km, but within the northern region, little or no genetic structure was detected over large distances (up to 114 km). Genetic structure at shorter distance (43 km) was found between sites situated in landscapes with larger amounts of arable lands. A significant positive relationship was found between the pairwise genetic distance (Fst) between sites and the amount of arable land together with the distance between sites. Our results suggest that the Loire River might act as a corridor for the marbled newt, while arable land might act as a barrier. Finally, although a large city is located between sampling sites, no effect was detected on population structure.

The Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) occurs only in the mountains of northern Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The species is classified as Endangered due to its small declining population. In this study, we combined genetic and landscape ecology techniques in order to inform landscape scale conservation and genetic management of Arabian tahr. Using 540 base pairs of mitochondrial control region in a dataset of 53 samples, we found eight haplotypes, which fell into two haplogroups. Population genetic analysis using a panel of 14 microsatellite loci also showed a weak, but significant division. Analyses of landscape connectivity supported the genetic results showing poor connectivity between populations in the far south of the study area and those in the north. The most likely location of corridors connecting Arabian tahr populations were identified. Many corridors between tahr populations are impeded by multi-lane highways and restoration of these connections is required to maintain population viability of Arabian tahr. Owing to limited genetic samples outside of Wadi Sareen, further sampling is needed to elucidate both mtDNA and the nuclear structure of Arabian tahr more fully. Our study provides a toolkit that may be used for future genetic and connectivity monitoring of the Arabian tahr population.

Alpine and arctic bird populations have shown an unmistakable decrease over the last three decades, and the need for conservation is highly necessary. We investigated the use of five privately-owned dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) as a non-invasive tool to determine the presence of rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), through sniffing out faecal pellets, using a yes/no training regime. We carried out 36 double-blind experimental trials per dog and hypothesised that dogs could discriminate the rock ptarmigan from similar species, such as black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), western capercaillie (T. urogallus) and willow grouse (L. lagopus). Our dogs detected differences between the avian species with an average accuracy of 65.9%, sensitivity of 66.7% and specificity of 65.3%. We showed that privately-owned dogs have the potential to be used as biodetectors for conservational work within controlled laboratory conditions for declining species, but overall, only one dog was considered proficient enough. We concluded that dogs could be used as a non-invasive tool to detect the rock ptarmigan, and with further field training and testing, operate in the field for detection surveys.

ObjectiveAbstractThe genetic markers designed for this study can facilitate future genetic studies on the rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta). To our knowledge no microsatellite markers have ever been developed specifically for this species before. These new microsatellite markers will be useful for population genetics studies and for future conservation projects.ResultsUsing Next Generation Sequencing 6252 potential microsatellite sequences were found. Sixteen nonpalindromic tetranucleotide microsatellites and their respective primers were selected. The markers were tested on both the rock ptarmigan and the willow grouse (L. lagopus). The number of alleles varied between 2 and 18 for the rock ptarmigan, and between 3 and 13 for the willow grouse. Expected heterozygosity was in the range 0.1244–0.8692 and 0.1358–0.8722 for the rock ptarmigan and the willow grouse, respectively.

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