The chamois is a useful species with which to investigate the combined genetic impact of habitat fragmentation, over hunting, and translocations. Genetic variation within and between chamois (genus Rupicapra) populations was analyzed in 259 individuals from 16 sampling sites located in Italy, Spain, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Two mitochondrial DNA markers (control region and cytochrome b) and 11 nuclear microsatellites were typed. The principal results of this study can be summarized as follows: 1) high and significant differentiation between almost all chamois populations is observed even on a microgeographical scale, probably caused by the patchy distribution of this species, sharp geographical barriers to gene flow, and drift effects related to recent bottlenecks; 2) historical translocation events have left a clear genetic signature, including interspecific hybridization in some Alpine localities; 3) the Apennine subspecies of chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica ornata, shows a high and similar level of divergence (about 1.5 My) from the Pyrenean (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) and the Alpine (Rupicapra rupicapra) chamois; therefore, the specific status of these taxa should be revised. These results confirm the potential of population genetic analyses to dissect and interpret complex patterns of diversity in order to define factors important to conservation and management.

Patterns of prevalence in communities of bacteria in free-living adult, juvenile, and feces of alpine accentors (Prunella collaris) were studied in the West Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia, in 2002Slovakia, in -2003. A total of 27 species of bacteria belonging to 13 different genera were identified in cloacal and pharyngeal swabs taken from captured birds (n = 30) and/or in feces (n = 171). Forty-six percent of adult males, 75% of adult females, and 82% of juveniles sampled tested positive for one or more types of bacterium. A close association was found between the genera Hafnia, Bifidobacterium, and Pseudomonas. The prevalence of bacteria in accentors was found to vary among seasons and between years but was not, in general, site-specific. Enterococcus and Escherichia (and possibly Hafnia and Serratia) were most prevalent in summer, whereas Bacillus, Klebsiella, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Yersinia occurred more often during other seasons. Evidence is presented that anthropogenic food obtained as refuse probably has a significant effect on the gut flora of birds frequenting areas of high human use.