Abstract
The amount and distribution of genetic variation in seven introduced New Zealand populations of Carduelis chloris were assessed at 40 loci using starch gel electrophoresis and compared with those in native European populations. Fewer alleles (1.45) and fewer polymorphic loci (33 per cent) were detected across the introduced populations than across native populations (1.75, 55 per cent), reflecting the narrow geographical origin of the introduced populations. There was no evidence for severe inbreeding or genetic drift as the levels of average heterozygosity (H = 0.025), percentage polymorphic loci (P = 16.9) and average number of alleles per locus (A = 1.22) were indistinguishable from levels observed within European populations (77 = 0.025, P =14.1, A = 1.19). Furthermore, introduced populations were genetically less weakly differentiated (FST = 0.022) than native populations (FST = 0.041), indicating that little genetic drift has been involved in the colonization of the new range. Similar levels of genetic variability in native and introduced greenfinch populations are consistent with theoretical expectations as the founder population size was relatively large (>60 individuals) and a rapid increase in population size directly after colonization was documented. A review of earlier studies on introduced birds also revealed that reductions in levels of genetic variability seem to be inversely proportional to the size of the founder population, and that less variation has been lost if the rate of population growth directly after introduction was fast.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements We thank Staffan Ulfstrand and anonymous refer-erees for thouhgtful reading of manuscript, and for several suggestions which have improved it. Special thanks to Mark Peck for his invaluable help both in field and lab. This study was financially supported by the Canadian National Environmental Research Council (to AJB), The Swedish Natural Science Research Council (to MB), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and Stiftelsen Zoologisk Forskning at Uppsala University (to JM).
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Merilä, J., Björklund, M. & Baker, A. The successful founder: genetics of introduced Carduelis chloris (greenfinch) populations in New Zealand. Heredity 77, 410–422 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1996.161
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