Genetic evaluation of a proposed introduction: the case of the greater prairie chicken and the extinct heath hen.
Abstract
Population introduction is an important tool for ecosystem restoration. However, before
introductions should be conducted, it is important to evaluate the genetic, phenotypic
and ecological suitability of possible replacement populations. Careful genetic analysis
is particularly important if it is suspected that the extirpated population was unique
or genetically divergent. On the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, the introduction
of greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) to replace the extinct heath
hen (T. cupido cupido) is being considered as part of an ecosystem restoration project.
Martha's Vineyard was home to the last remaining heath hen population until its extinction
in 1932. We conducted this study to aid in determining the suitability of greater
prairie chickens as a possible replacement for the heath hen. We examined mitochondrial
control region sequences from extant populations of all prairie grouse species (Tympanuchus)
and from museum skin heath hen specimens. Our data suggest that the Martha's Vineyard
heath hen population represents a divergent mitochondrial lineage. This result is
attributable either to a long period of geographical isolation from other prairie
grouse populations or to a population bottleneck resulting from human disturbance.
The mtDNA diagnosability of the heath hen contrasts with the network of mtDNA haplotypes
of other prairie grouse (T. cupido attwateri, T. pallidicinctus and T. phasianellus),
which do not form distinguishable mtDNA groupings. Our findings suggest that the Martha's
Vineyard heath hen was more genetically isolated than are current populations of prairie
grouse and place the emphasis for future research on examining prairie grouse adaptations
to different habitat types to assess ecological exchangeability between heath hens
and greater prairie chickens.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AnimalsBase Sequence
Conservation of Natural Resources
DNA Primers
DNA, Mitochondrial
Ecosystem
Galliformes
Genetic Variation
Haplotypes
Likelihood Functions
Massachusetts
Models, Genetic
Molecular Sequence Data
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Species Specificity
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6532Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02181.xPublication Info
Palkovacs, EP; Oppenheimer, AJ; Gladyshev, E; Toepfer, JE; Amato, G; Chase, T; & Caccone,
A (2004). Genetic evaluation of a proposed introduction: the case of the greater prairie chicken
and the extinct heath hen. Mol Ecol, 13(7). pp. 1759-1769. 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02181.x. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6532.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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