The genetic lineages of common buzzards Buteo buteo in Ireland

Coughlan, Neil E.; Kelly, Thomas C.; Coughlan, Jamie; Mitham, Neil; Nicholson, Jeremy; Potter, Elaine; Reed, Thomas E.; Rooney, Eimar; Smiddy, Patrick; Walker, Lee ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1471-7075; Dillane, Eileen. 2024 The genetic lineages of common buzzards Buteo buteo in Ireland. Irish Birds, 46. 41-48.

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Abstract/Summary

Believed to have been extinct in Ireland by 1900, since the 1960s the Common Buzzard has recolonised most of the island of Ireland. To date, the origins and genetic composition of this contemporary Irish population remain undescribed. It has been postulated that the Irish breeding population is largely composed of birds dispersing from Britain, while in tandem a possible refugium in Northern Ireland may have radiated outwards across the island. The present study sought to establish the genetic origins of Irish Buzzards through an assessment of feather samples collected from sites across Ireland examined alongside samples obtained from collections held in Britain and continental Europe. All samples were sequenced for the cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) gene. Four haplotypes were detected within Irish samples, all of which were also observed in Britain, suggesting that Britain is likely to be the primary source of the Buzzards resident in Ireland today. Sequence data revealed similar genetic diversity within British Buzzards to that observed in Ireland. The two most common lineages in Ireland were rare elsewhere while the least commonly observed haplotype was seen throughout the European range suggesting that while it has persisted across the European range and was present among recent successful colonisers of Ireland, it is not widely represented among the successful colonisers in Ireland. Overall, these data bolster the hypothesis that the Irish population was founded by birds originating in Britain, which in turn are genetically linked to continental Europe, but also suggest that non-neutral and/or neutral processes have since reshaped the genetic diversity of Buzzards in Ireland.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Pollution (Science Area 2017-)
Additional Keywords:	Buteo buteo,founder effect, genetic connectivity, raptor, recolonisation
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Zoology
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date made live:	09 Dec 2024 11:42 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538526

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