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Gene flow and population structure of the endemic Azorean bat (Nyctalus azoreum) based on microsatellites: implications for conservation

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Abstract

The Azorean bat (Nyctalus azoreum) is endemic to the Azores archipelago and is listed as endangered due to its reduced and fragmented distribution range. We assessed genetic diversity at eight microsatellite loci in 280 individuals from 14 locations throughout six islands. Overall, we found that the Azorean bat populations are not genetically impoverished. Indeed, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 8 to 10 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.77 in Terceira to 0.83 in Faial. The highest genetic diversity and level of private alleles was observed in S. Miguel, the largest island, and the closest to the mainland. Private alleles occurred at all islands except in Graciosa. Global and pairwise F ST among islands were all statistically significant, suggesting restricted gene flow. These results, together with those of factorial correspondence analysis, Bayesian clustering method, and individual assignment tests, corroborate the conclusions of a previous mtDNA based study, providing strong support for the existence of two major subpopulations: one includes all islands of the Central Group and the other corresponds to S. Miguel. Gene flow between them is very limited, suggesting that management plans should avoid translocations between these subpopulations.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the people who helped during field work: Ana Cerveira, Filipe Moniz, Mafalda Frade, Filipe Canário, Mário Silva, Helder Fraga, Fernando Pereira, and Margarida Leonardo. We are grateful to Maria José Pitta and André Silva from the Direcção Regional de Ambiente dos Açores for processing the permit to handle bats. Finally, we would like to thank Eric Petit for advice, and Michael Schwartz and two anonymous reviewers for suggestions that improved the manuscript. This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (project POCTI: BSE/33963/99-00), and a PhD grant to P.S. (SFRH/BD/1201/2000), co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biologia Ambiental/Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, 1749-016, Portugal

    Patrícia Salgueiro, Jorge M. Palmeirim & M. Manuela Coelho

  2. Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Genève, CP6434, Geneva 6, 1211, Switzerland

    Manuel Ruedi

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  1. Patrícia Salgueiro
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  2. Jorge M. Palmeirim
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  4. M. Manuela Coelho
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Correspondence to Patrícia Salgueiro.

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Salgueiro, P., Palmeirim, J.M., Ruedi, M. et al. Gene flow and population structure of the endemic Azorean bat (Nyctalus azoreum) based on microsatellites: implications for conservation. Conserv Genet 9, 1163–1171 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9430-z

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