Abstract
During the last decades the ground-breeding Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus, Linnaeus, 1758) has changed its breeding habitats in Europe to agricultural areas in which many local populations would be close to extinction without a special nest protection regime. Although Montagu’s harrier is a well-studied species in terms of ecology and breeding biology, its genetic structure and population genetics are almost unknown. As there is a lack of good genetic markers we developed a set of 19 microsatellite markers comprising 16 new STR markers which were identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using 454 shot-gun pyrosequencing of genomic DNA. The STR markers were arranged into three multiplex PCR sets for high throughput genotyping and characterised. The marker set provides a powerful tool for kinship analysis. The combined non-exclusion probability for parent pairs was 1.13*10-11. Only three loci showed PIC values < 0.50. In total, 121 known family relationships were compared with genetically calculated ones to test the markers suitability for parentage analysis. In 97.5% of all cases full-sibships were accurately determined and 97.6% of all mothers were assigned correctly to their chicks. The present multiplex PCR panels can be used to investigate several hypotheses concerning breeding behaviour, kinship, exchange rates between populations and phylogeography.
Highlights
Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus, Linnaeus, 1758) is a well-studied raptor as far as ecological and breeding aspects are concerned
During the last decades the ground-breeding Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus, Linnaeus, 1758) has changed its breeding habitats in Europe to agricultural areas in which many local populations would be close to extinction without a special nest protection regime
As there is a lack of good genetic markers we developed a set of 19 microsatellite markers comprising 16 new STR markers which were identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using 454 shot-gun pyrosequencing of genomic DNA
Summary
Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus, Linnaeus, 1758) is a well-studied raptor as far as ecological and breeding aspects are concerned. It seems to be one of the more flexible and adaptive raptors in our modern world. Since the beginning of the 20th century this species has changed its favourite breeding habitat from formerly natural wetlands like marshes, lowland and swamps [1,2,3,4] to agricultural areas such as grain fields [5, 6] This habitat shift took place in the WestEuropean breeding populations in 1990; as a consequence 70-90% of Montagu’s harrier breed in agricultural areas today [7]. In Germany, as well as in other European countries, these crops are harvested too frequently and very early in the breeding season for silage and biogas production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
