Population Genetic Structure and Demography of the Critically Endangered Chequered Blue Butterfly (Scolitantides orion) in a Highly Isolated Part of Its Distribution Range.

ABSTRACT: Scolitantides orion is a butterfly species threatened in many European countries. In Poland, it survived in a single highly isolated area (Vistula River valley), which is an example of the dramatic decline in the population number. We studied the two largest remaining populations inhabiting opposite banks of the river. Mark-release-recapture studies showed that both populations were small, and they fluctuated in numbers, but adult individuals were twice as numerous on the western site. Genetic analyses were carried out using a mitochondrial (COI, ND5) and nuclear markers (Wgl, EF-1α, and microsatellite loci). We found out that genetic variation was low at both sites but higher in the smaller eastern population. This pattern is likely to be better explained by past distribution, when

SUBMITTER: Czajkowska M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7564389 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature