Quantifying genetic distance between wild and captive strains of the grey partridge Perdix perdix in France: conservation implications

Abstract

The grey partridge Perdix perdix is an important gamebird in Europe. Its numbers have decreased dramatically during the XXth century and releases are commonly undertaken for the conservation of the populations and/or hunting purposes in Western Europe. However, this practice that generally involves birds from commercial farms raises several concerns, among which a potential hybridization between farmed and wild individuals. Herein, based on microsatellite markers, we characterize the genetic patterns of farmed birds in view of wild birds of the two French subspecies (P. p. armoricana in centralnorthern France and P. p. hispaniensis in the Pyrenees). Hence, we estimate the risk of genetic introgression between wild and farmed birds. Our results highlight a genetic divergence between both subspecies-in accordance with the known evolutionary history of the grey partridge during the Quaternary. In central-northern France, a slight but significant difference in the genetic signature between wild and farmed partridges is detected. This difference however does not seem prone to alter the gene pool of wild birds if farmed birds are released in the wild and reproduce. On the contrary, in the Pyrenees, the large and significant genetic difference between wild and farmed birds represents a real risk of genetic introgression. This threat should be taken into account in population management.

Mismatches between Morphology and DNA in Italian Partridges May Not Be Explained Only by Recent Artificial Release of Farm-Reared Birds

“…The spread of allochthonous genotypes from artificially translocated or farm-reared partridges into conspecifics or congeneric wild populations is a known pattern already found in several previous analyses [15,16,18,40,41,44,[58][59][60]. Consistent with these results, we found haplotypes of the allochthonous A. chukar in Italian A. graeca (Table S1).…”

“…In our case study, the spread of allochthonous genotypes from farm to wild birds, which was already highlighted as a potential problem for species management and conservation [ 18 , 58 ] does not seem to be the major driver of mismatches between morphology and DNA taxonomy in Italian partridges. Indeed, we found hybridization and introgression of genotypes between genera more frequently in samples from museums and collections (52.4%) and in wild birds (5.78%) than in farm-reared birds (0.1%).…”

Blunt Force Trauma in the Canarian Houbara Bustard (<em>Chlamyd-Otis Undulata Fuertaventurae</em>) Produced by Collision with Over-Head Lines

“…When traumatic mortalities are investigated in avian species, most of the studies focus on gross lesions, and little is mentioned about complementary studies that may provide information about survival after the initial trauma [2][3][4][5][6]26,27]. In one study, the authors determined that 36% of whooping cranes (Grus americana) that collide with overhead lines survived the trauma [27], whereas Bech et al (2012) [35] demonstrated that rock ptarmigan hen (Lagopus muta) can fly up to 600 m after collision. In our cases, the histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and entomology support that 44,4% (n=4) of animals survived the trauma but died shortly after due to internal bleeding, following an uncertain period ranging from few minutes to hours (even days, such as in case 5).…”

Birds adapted to cold conditions show greater changes in range size related to past climatic oscillations than temperate birds

“…The current populations, at least in Western Europe, are composed by a mixture of wild and farmed individuals that are released for conservation or hunting purposes. This aspect influenced boththe genetic diversity of the species, as the released individuals hybridize with the wild ones with a high risk of genetic introgressions, and the natural distribution of the species, due to the release of these commercial individuals in areas outside their "natural" climate envelope 69 , 70 . In addition, as this species nests on the ground in grasslands, it suffered massive declines during the XXth century due to habitat loss and degradation caused by agricultural intensification.…”