Reintroduction of the European Capercaillie from the Capercaillie Breeding Centre in Wisła Forest District: Genetic Assessments of Captive and Reintroduced Populations

Abstract

The Western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a specific bird species, which, despite its very broad distribution and large global population size, is highly endangered in many Western and Central European countries. According to the species situation, in many countries (including Poland), breeding and reintroduction programmes have been started. One of the most complex and large-scale reintroduction programmes was started in Bory Dolnośląskie Forest, and the Capercaillie Breeding Centre in Wisła Forest District was used as one of the sources of individuals for reintroduction. As genetic tools provide essential knowledge about species biodiversity, which is crucially important during the breeding process and reintroduction, both captive and reintroduced grouse populations were genetically analysed. We were particularly interested in genetic diversity of the individuals in both populations and the genetic relationship between them, as well as between them and other capercaillie representatives from their current range. To fulfil these goals we determined nine microsatellite loci along with a fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Genetic diversity parameters were moderate to high compared to populations from other Central and Western European countries. Both populations were clustered into three distinct genetic clades based on microsatellites. Phylogenetic analysis placed all mitochondrial haplotypes we revealed in the Eurasian clade. The present results will play an important role as they will help to preserve and maximize genetic diversity in captive populations, and will provide a basis for future monitoring of the reintroduction process.

Conservation genetics of the capercaillie in Poland - Delineation of conservation units

“…Despite the breeding isolation of these two lines in the breeding programme pursued at the Wisła centre, we detected the presence of a few individuals of mixed origin. Therefore we suggest there may be inaccuracies between the breeding documentation and pedigree genetic data or wrong assignment of founder individuals to genetic lineages [82]. We speculate that we can no longer assume isolation between breeding lines.…”

Population genomics analyses of European ibex species show lower diversity and higher inbreeding in reintroduced populations

“…Genetic aspects influence not only the short-term reintroduction success (due to the genetic architecture of the founder individuals), but also the long-term reintroduction success (due to adaptive evolutionary potential and inbreeding). Several studies identified genetic consequences imposed by reintroductions based on microsatellite loci (e.g., Biebach & Keller, 2009;Diefenbach, Hansen, Bohling, & Miller Butterworth, 2015;Jamieson, 2011;Strzała, Kowalczyk, & Łukaszewicz, 2015), but only very few studies surveyed genomewide effects or monitored long-term consequences.…”

Occurrence of dispersive stages of endoparasites in the faeces of European Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) from capercaillie breeding centres in Poland

“…Według ostatnich danych, w Polsce istnieją cztery lokalne populacje w dużych kompleksach leśnych, spełniających wymagania siedliskowe gatunku. Najwięcej osobników zamieszkuje lasy górskie Beskidu Śląskiego i Żywieckiego, druga pod względem liczebności populacja zlokalizowana jest na Lubelszczyźnie w Lasach Janowskich, a najmniej liczne są ostoje w Puszczy Solskiej i Augustowskiej (13,14,19). Aktualnie głu-szec na terenie całego kraju objęty jest ścisłą ochroną gatunkową, pomimo której wciąż obserwowany jest spadek jego liczebności.…”

“…Biorąc pod uwagę unikatową specyfikę hodowli głuszców, realne wydaje się również zagrożenie inwazjologiczne ze strony ptactwa przebywającego w otoczeniu wolier hodowlanych i adaptacyjnych, które organizuje się w warunkach zbliżonych do naturalnego środowiska, na ograniczonych siatką terenach leśnych (9,19,21). W miejscach tych głuszce narażone są na kontakt z formami dyspersyjnymi pasożytów, rozsiewanych przez przebywające w pobliżu wolier dzikie ptaki.…”