Home > Research > Mountain Plover
POPULATION DIFFERENTIATION - Mountain Plover
Collaborator:
Fritz Knopf, USGS
Funding Partners:
USGS, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Related Publications:
St John J., R.F. Kysela, and S.J. Oyler-McCance. 2007. Characterization of microsatellite loci isolated in Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus). Molecular Ecology Notes 7, 802-804.
Oyler-McCance, S. J., St. John, J., Knopf, F. L., and T.W. Quinn. 2005. Population Genetic Analysis of Mountain Plover Using Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Data. Condor. 107, 353-362.
Summary:
Historically, the range of mountain plover (Charadrius montanus) was widespread in the United States and Mexico. Their breeding range extended throughout the Great Plains and southwestern United States in shortgrass prairie habitat dominated by herbivores such as prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), bison (Bison bison), and pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana). Much of the eastern part of the historic breeding range no longer support mountain plover with extinctions in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota (Knopf 1996). Changes in agricultural practices, human expansion into breeding habitat, and the elimination of prairie dog colonies because of disease outbreaks has lead to a 60% decline in numbers over three decades (Leachman and Osmundson 1990). Similarly, while mountain plovers once wintered throughout the southwestern United States, they are now restricted to areas in the Central and Imperial Valleys of California where agricultural land use practices may also have a negative impact on populations.
It is thought that male and female mountain plover maintain fidelity to the same breeding ground year after year (Graul 1973, Knopf 1996) and that chicks born in a certain area will return and breed there as adults (Knopf 1996). Though fidelity of wintering sites is unknown (Knopf 1996), fidelity to a certain breeding location would predict that genetic interchange among breeding locales would be low and genetic differentiation among locales high. Because loss and fragmentation of mountain plover habitat have caused the remaining breeding populations to be increasingly small and isolated, it is further expected that there is some amount of genetic differentiation among populations and that gene flow is even further restricted. To date, movement data among mountain plover populations has been based on banding studies, which while informative, are not comprehensive. Movement of even just a few individuals between populations can be enough to offset genetic drift and prevent substantial genetic differentiation among populations. Information about gene flow and levels of genetic diversity are paramount to successful management and conservation (Samson and Knopf 1996). For this reason, the objectives of our study are to document levels of gene flow among breeding locations and to document levels of genetic variation in those populations. To do this, we are using mitochondrial sequence and nuclear microsatellite analyses.
