Peter Galbusera, ricercatore presso il KMDA (http://www.kmda.org/), sta svolgendo una ricerca sulla Cicogna bianca (Ciconia ciconia) ed è alla ricerca di samples museali provenienti dall'Italia.
Qui un sunto del suo agire:
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Glacial evidence for the existence of genetic migration groups in an iconic bird species: The case of the European White Stork.
Jill Shephard (Murdoch University, Australia) & Peter Galbusera (CRC, Belgium)
The European White Stork Ciconia ciconia is an iconic bird species. It has experienced significant country specific extinctions since the early 1900’s particularly across the western distribution of its range. These have been countered by reintroduction programmes.
In a recent population genetic study on the European White Stork Ciconia ciconia we characterised the distribution of genetic variation at the scale of the species range and between pre and post reintroduction populations. We were specifically interested in the identification of genetically differentiated migration pools, and the effects of random dispersal, migration ecology and translocation on current structure. Results showed very high levels of genetic diversity and suggest a significant level of genetic mixing at both temporal and geographic scales. Among European species, environmental and anthropogenic forces including major glaciations cycles, agricultural intensification, urbanisation, human expansion, and more recently anthropogenic mediated climate changes have played a significant role in shaping past and current population distributions. Specifically, current avian distributions are strongly linked to the movement in and out of glacial refugia in the Iberian peninsula, Italy and the Balkans. There is very strong evidence in the existing genetic data to support a link to the Iberian refugium only. However, samples from Italy and the Balkans are missing so far.
In this study we propose specifically to investigate evidence for genetic signals of the Italian and Balkan glacial refugia within the current distribution. Upon genetic analysis, this information could be used to make management recommendations regarding the translocation of storks in the future.
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Se qualche "museale" potesse aiutarlo, questo è il suo contatto di posta elettronica, grazie:
Peter.Galbusera@kmda.org