Genetic and environmental drivers of migratory behavior in western burrowing owls and implications for conservation and management.

ABSTRACT: Migration is driven by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, but many questions remain about those drivers. Potential interactions between genetic and environmental variants associated with different migratory phenotypes are rarely the focus of study. We pair low coverage whole genome resequencing with a de novo genome assembly to examine population structure, inbreeding, and the environmental factors associated with genetic differentiation between migratory and resident breeding phenotypes in a species of conservation concern, the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea). Our analyses reveal a dichotomy in gene flow depending on whether the population is resident or migratory, with the former being genetically structured and the latter exhibiting no signs o

SUBMITTER: Barr K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10739168 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature