AVICONGEN2
Conservation genetics of threatened bird species
| Coordinatore | EESTI MAAULIKOOL
Organization address
address: Kreutzwaldi 1 contact info |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | Estonia [EE] |
| Totale costo | 45˙000 € |
| EC contributo | 45˙000 € |
| Programma | FP7-PEOPLE
Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) |
| Code Call | FP7-PEOPLE-2009-RG |
| Funding Scheme | MC-ERG |
| Anno di inizio | 2010 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2010-04-01 - 2013-03-31 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
EESTI MAAULIKOOL
Organization address
address: Kreutzwaldi 1 contact info |
EE (TARTU) | coordinator | 45˙000.00 |
Mappa
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Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'Human activities threaten many species worldwide and science-based conservation activities have an increasing importance. Current project integrates genetic methods into the population studies of threatened bird species, the Black Stork, the White-tailed Eagle, the Greater and the Lesser Spotted Eagle and the Willow Grouse. The project includes several fields of conservation genetics, such as identification of population structure, estimation of genetic variability within and between populations, analysis of population fragmentation and inbreeding, dispersal and gene flow, population turnover, sex ratio and development of sexing methods. The outcomes of the study are important for planning further conservation actions for these species, as well as for increasing general knowledge about long-lived birds characterised by the small population size.'
Introduzione (Teaser)
A conservation project has improved our understanding of the population genetics of several long-lived European birds.
Descrizione progetto (Article)
The conservation of threatened species is an ongoing effort the world over. Understanding the genetic variability of different species, and populations within species, can help conservationists plan their efforts better.
The EU-funded 'Conservation genetics of threatened bird species' (AVICONGEN2) project used a number of genetic tools to study the variation in and population structure of threatened bird species. Birds studied during the project included the greater and lesser spotted eagles, the white-tailed eagle and the black stork.
AVICONGEN2 found significant hybridisation between greater and lesser spotted eagles, across a broad geographical area. Researchers concluded that this poses a significant threat to the highly endangered bird.
For black storks, research revealed that the ratio between sexes is uneven, which may negatively impact on the survival of the species.
Birth rate in both the greater spotted eagle and the black stork is very low. In the case of the greater spotted eagle, this is compounded by frequent deaths during migration.
Finally, AVICONGEN2 found that in Estonia there is a pocket of high genetic diversity in white-tailed eagles that is not reflected in other European populations. This is likely due to the high migration rate of these birds within Estonia.
The outcomes of this project will aid planning and implementing of conservation strategies to protect these threatened species.