Genetic Variation among Island and Continental Populations of Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Subspecies in North America

Abstract

Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) have a large geographic range spanning both North and South America and resident populations occur on many islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Many owl populations are isolated and disjunct from other populations, but studies on genetic variation within and among populations are limited. We characterized DNA microsatellite variation in populations varying in size and geographic isolation in the Florida (A. c. floridana), the Western (A. c. hypugaea), and the Clarion (A. c. rostrata) subspecies of the Burrowing Owl. We also characterized genetic variation in a geographically isolated population of the western subspecies in central Mexico (near Texcoco Lake). Clarion Burrowing Owls had no intrapopulation variation (i.e., fixation) at 5 out of 11 microsatellite loci, a likely outcome of genetic drift in an isolated and small population. The Florida subspecies had only polymorphic loci but had reduced levels of genetic variation compared with the more-widespread western subspecies that occurs throughout western North America. Despite the extensive geographic distribution of the Western Burrowing Owl, we found genetic differentiation between the panmictic population north of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the resident Texcoco Lake population in central Mexico.

Cross-Amplification in Strigiformes: A New STR Panel for Forensic Purposes

“…Microsatellite loci represent reliable molecular markers to describe genetic variability or its drastic reduction, as demonstrated by Macías-Duarte et al [59] that found different values in three different populations of Athene cunicularia, with the average number of alleles varying from 2.7 in Clarion Islands to 5.1 in Florida and 22.5 in Western North America.…”

The Pleistocene Burrowing Owl (<em>Athene cunicularia</em>) from The Bahamas

“…with molecular genetic analyses, although, again, the paucity of modern West Indian specimens of Burrowing Owl (few skins, 3 partial skeletons, no tissues) precludes such analyses at this point. For example,Macías-Duarte et al (2019) did not include any West Indian samples in their genetic analyses of Burrowing Owls. Nevertheless, we suspect that late Pleistocene gene flow occurred between Burrowing Owls in Florida and The Bahamas, especially given the large number of other species of birds shared between Florida and The Bahamas at that time(Steadman and Franklin 2015, 2017).…”